


A Ghost of a Chance

by fangs_for_the_memories



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Character Turned Into a Ghost, F/F, Ghosts, Haunted Houses, Haunting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-07-24 05:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7496520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangs_for_the_memories/pseuds/fangs_for_the_memories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura Hollis moves into her college roommate's house in hopes to investigate her mysterious death. Little does she know, it's haunted by one Carmilla Karnstein, a ghost who died in 1698.<br/>Based off <a href="http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/132818493182/person-a-is-dead-and-has-to-be-person-bs-ghost">this prompt</a>:<br/><i>“Person A is dead and has to be Person B’s ghost. They have to scare B and haunt them on a regular basis. But A finds B to be nice and pretty so A couldn’t bring themself to do all that stuff to B. B also finds A attractive and very kind as well. Hilarity and romance ensure.”</i><br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Get Your Haunt On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura moves in and quickly makes friends with her new neighbors. Carmilla observes her new housemate.

“Come on, Hollis. Girl the hell up and go in there.” Laura takes a deep breath and lets out a long exhale as she turns the doorknob, squeaking her way into her new house.

There are tarps and sheets thrown all over the furniture, with a thin layer of dust already collecting. Her boxes are strewn about the living room, courtesy of the moving company.

She runs a hand through her hair and takes a moment to peer around the first floor before opening one of the smaller boxes.

She pulls out her laptop and opens the program to start recording.

 

“Hey… Uhm… whoever’s watching these when I post them,” she begins brightly. “Just made it into my new house…”

A floorboard creaks nearby and Laura freezes, looking around but seeing nothing. She takes a moment to recompose herself before continuing.

  

* * *

 

 

Carmilla crosses her arms and frowns. A new inhabitant in the house, and so soon? The previous girl had only been… _gone_ for a couple days. She was just starting to enjoy having the place to herself again. Ghost constitution and all.

She watches as this Laura Hollis gesticulates wildly, words flying out of her mouth a mile a minute.

Damn. She’s cute.

 

There’s a knock at the door and Carmilla groans. “Wow, these two don’t wait, do they?” she grumbles. She knows Laura can’t hear her, but this won’t stop her from voicing her displeasure.

Laura gets up from her spot and walks to the front door. “Hi!” she greets warmly.

“Hello! I’m Lola Perry and this is LaFontaine,” one of two redheads replies. “We live in the next house over.”

“I’m Laura Hollis. Guess I’m your new neighbor.” She steps aside. “Please, come in.”

Carmilla rolls her eyes. “Sure, just invite them into our humble abode, cutie,” she drawls.

The two hover in the doorway for a moment before hesitantly stepping inside.

Laura starts to close the door when a hand reaches out and stops it. “Oh!”

She opens the door wider, revealing a taller redhead.

“Sorry, didn’t see you there,” Laura squeaks.

The other girl laughs, clearly charmed by her. “It’s fine. I’m Danny Lawrence, I live on the other side of you. I saw Perry and LaF come over and thought I might as well, too.”

“I’m Laura Hollis.” Danny extends a hand and Laura takes it, shaking it. It goes on for slightly too long as Laura stares up at Danny with a goofy grin.

“Minus massive points to you for crushing on the giant, cupcake,” Carmilla grumbles.

 

“Well, uh, come on in,” Laura says shyly.

Danny nods and brushes past her. Laura shuts the door. “Uhm, sorry it’s so messy.”

LaF shrugs. “Ah, I mean, it’s better than the last time we saw it––”

Perry elbows them and they let out a cough. “It was so sweet of you to invite us in, Laura,” Perry declares with a forced smile.

Laura cocks her head to the side. “When was the last time you saw the inside of this house?”

 

The three redheads share a look before LaF clears their throat. “Do you know who lived here before you?”

Laura nods. “Elizabeth Anne Spielsdorf. Also known as my friend, Betty.”

Carmilla’s eyes widen. That, she was not expecting.

“Wait, you knew Betty?” Perry asks.

Laura swallows hard. “She was my roommate in college and I–– well, I-I know everyone thinks she died of natural causes, but… I dunno.” She laughs nervously and shakes her head. “This probably sounds crazy to you guys.”

Danny chuckles dryly. “Lemme get this straight. Your friend dies and you think it’s from suspicious causes, so you move into her house to figure out the truth?”

Laura gulps and nods slowly.

“That is hardcore,” LaF breathes out.

 

Laura shrugs, blushing. “If you say so. All I know is, I was on the phone with Betty when she died and–– it didn’t sound natural.”

Carmilla silently chastises herself again for not waiting longer or being more careful when she was dealing with Betty. She had seen that Betty was on the phone with _someone_ , and continued anyway. But her mother had been so insistent and impatient…

“And I tried telling the cops and anyone who would listen, and no one believes me, so I decided to just do the investigation myself and try to find proof.”

“Well, Betty may not have been our _friend_ by all definitions, since she wasn’t living here long,” Perry begins with a sigh. “But we liked her enough as a neighbor and if what you’re saying is true then I would love to help however I can.”

LaF and Danny both quickly agree.

Laura’s face lights up and she does a little dorky dance, squealing and pulling them all in for a hug.

 

Carmilla smirks at the scene before her. Yep. Definitely cute.

“Thank goodness I’m not doing this alone.” Laura pulls away, getting slightly teary. “I just… She wasn’t the greatest person but… if something else happened, then she should have someone to find out the truth, you know? No one deserves dying and being forgotten about.”

Carmilla lets out a rueful laugh. Apparently Laura Hollis was naïve, too.

“That is very sweet of you, Laura,” Perry says warmly.

Laura beams and Carmilla finds herself cracking a small smile, too. Why was it so contagious?

 

“Okay, Betty. Don’t worry. We’ll find out the truth,” Laura says, more to herself than anyone else.

Carmilla lets out a sigh. Laura was too good to meet the same fate as Betty. She was going to have to scare this girl so much that she ran, wasn’t she?

She made a motion of cracking her knuckles. “Alright, Karnstein,” Carmilla grumbles. “Time to get your haunt on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took five months, but this story finally got finished! It saw me through a senior thesis, a senior design project, several bouts with depression, graduating, getting a job, moving out of an apartment and into a new one, and the start of the Pokemon Go craze. Which also means it went through several rewrites, but I'm finally satisfied enough with it to let this one go.
> 
> I've been tagging this baby on tumblr as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au). It's also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> Feel free to leave a comment or swing by and hit me up on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/)  
> I'm eyeballing a Monday/Wednesday/Friday update schedule :)


	2. Say You'll Haunt Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla's haunting tactics quickly get on Laura's nerves, so Laura calls Danny over to vent to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I borrowed ideas for lot of the chapters in this fic from [this post](http://onetruepairingideas.tumblr.com/post/137850708607/ghost-aus). I'll quote the ones used at the end of the chapter to avoid spoiling them :)

Laura starts recording with a huff. “Hello… err–– viewers,” she growls. “Ever since I declared that I would find out what happened to Betty, weird stuff has been happening around the house!”

Carmilla, lounging on a nearby couch, snickers to herself.

“The first night, I went to take a shower and came back down to find that all my boxes had been unpacked. By a helpful entity? Heavens, no! All my stuff was strewn about the living room!”

Carmilla smirks at Laura’s antics and shifts a bit to get a better look. Of course she’s waving her hands around.

“Then I came downstairs and the curtains were pulled open and all of my food was thrown around the kitchen like some deranged animal went through all of it.”   Laura sighs and picks up her laptop, pointing it at the ground. “And there’s some weird ass piles of goop being left around the house along the walls. Apparently LaFontaine works in a bio lab and has a way to maybe identify what it is, so I brought some over to them last night.”

Carmilla knows that when she phases through walls, sometimes she leaves what’s colloquially known as “ectoplasm” behind, so she normally just uses the doors. Unless she’s trying to haunt the person living in the house. Then she uses the ectoplasmic effect to freak them out.

Except Laura seems more annoyed than freaked out. _That’s fine_ , Carmilla muses. _More time for me to aggravate her_.

 

“In the meantime, I’ve been mopping it up,” Laura says with a shudder. “When I came home from their place, the furniture had been moved around. There was a stool right in front of the door and I stubbed my toe,” she huffs.

“There’s an idea,” Carmilla mumbles, getting up and slowly turning Laura’s laptop away from her.

Laura’s eyes widen and she throws her hands up, showing her audience that she’s not the one moving it. “It’s not me!” she squeaks.

Carmilla laughs as she slams the laptop shut and Laura jumps. She studies Laura’s face and is somewhat impressed that she doesn’t look scared. If anything, her face is all bunched up in anger in such an adorable manner that Carmilla just wants to see how far she can push Laura. So she yanks Laura’s chair back, earning a yelp from her.

“That’s _it_!” she yells, pulling out her phone. “Hey, Danny, are you free? Can you come over?” she squeaks. “I’ll, uh, explain when you get here.”

 

Carmilla rolls her eyes. Yup, she’d pushed it too far. 

 

* * *

 

 

“…And that’s what’s been happening,” Laura finishes miserably.

Danny frowns. “So you’re saying this house is haunted?”

Laura sighs and plops down next to her on the couch. Carmilla scowls at them from across the room. “Maybe? But I Skyped with Betty a few times while she was living here and she never mentioned anything.” She lets out a gasp. “Unless _she’s_ the one haunting me?”

“Perhaps…” Danny shrugs. “But if she was haunting you, wouldn’t she be trying to give you a message that her death wasn’t from natural causes? And not just moving your stuff around?”

“Then what else could it be?” Laura asks, looking mildly defeated.

Carmilla looks somewhat uncomfortable. Yes, she had wanted to chase Laura from here before her mother could order Carmilla to take her as another sacrifice. But seeing Laura this _down_ just made it seem like there was something wrong with the cosmos.

 

“Come on, Hollis,” Danny suddenly says, snapping both Laura and Carmilla to attention.

“Oh, boy, Clifford the Big Red Dog here to rescue Emily Elizabeth’s day,” Carmilla grumbles.

Danny shifts a bit closer to Laura. “You don’t strike me as the type to give up. In fact, you’re a strong little thing, right?” Laura nods shyly. “Then you’ll figure this out. _We’ll_ figure this out.”

Carmilla makes a gagging sound. “Gee, what a swell life coach you are.”

 

The house makes a small rumbling sound and Laura and Danny look around before shrugging.

“Thanks, Danny,” Laura says, grateful. “You’re amazing.”

Carmilla crosses her arms and scowls. The house starts shaking a bit as she lets out a growl.

Danny looks around, uneasy. “Uhm, Hollis––”

“No, I mean it,” Laura says, staring up at Danny with heart-eyes. “I know we only met like, a week ago, but you’ve stopped by almost every day to make sure I settled in okay, and you’ve just been a great… neighbor.”

“She has no interest in just being your _neighbor_ , buttercup,” Carmilla spits out.

 

The house is now quaking and rumbling harder as Laura and Danny break eye contact to glance around them.

“Uh-uhm, this is new,” Laura stammers out as they both rise from the couch.

 _New for me, too_ , Carmilla muses. She doesn’t know what’s causing it, but she has a disturbing idea that it has something to do with her feeling… jealous?

_Get your crap together, Karnstein. You don’t get jealous._

Laura’s TARDIS mug wobbles off the edge of the coffee table and Laura rushes over to catch it. A lamp, placed on top of a closet, teeters over. Danny gasps. “Look out!”

The warning comes too late and the lamp smacks Laura on the head and she crumples to the ground.

Carmilla’s eyes widen and she forces herself to calm down. Injuring Laura is not what she wants, at all. The house immediately settles down and an uneasy quiet falls across the room.

Danny drops to Laura’s side and gently touches her head.

“ _Ow_ ,” Laura groans. Carmilla can’t help but feel a twinge of guilt.

 

“That’s _it_ ,” Danny huffs, helping Laura sit up. “You’re staying at my place tonight.”

“ _No_ ,” Carmilla barks.

“No,” Laura says at the same time. Carmilla quirks an eyebrow and Danny looks just as shocked. “But you should go home, Danny.”

Danny cocks her head to the side, confused. “There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you alone in here.”

Laura shakes her head. “Whatever is causing all of this was doing innocent stuff–– annoying, but not malicious. But, this?” She gestures around her at the various other items that had fallen during the quake. “This was way more dangerous than anything I’ve encountered in the past week. I don’t know if it’s because of you, but I don’t think you should be around here.”

 

Danny frowns. “Why would it be because of me?”

Laura shrugs with a pout. “I’m just saying, there’s a difference between a ghost moving my furniture around, and shaking the whole house,” she says softly. “And I want to find out what’s causing what without having you around as a variable.”

“Well… is your head okay?” Danny asks as they get off the floor, clearly not happy that Laura’s kicking her out.

Laura nods, rubbing at it. “Yeah.”

Danny chews her lip. “If you need anything–– anything _at all_ , call me, okay? And the offer to stay with me stands.”

Carmilla rolls her eyes. “Calm down, knight in shining red hair.”

“I’ll be fine. Can’t solve a mystery if I’m not around to collect clues, right?” Laura teases.

Danny cracks a small smile. “Alright, alright. Catch you later, Hollis.”

“thanks for stopping by, though.” Laura waves goodbye as Danny sees herself out.

 

She stands in the middle of the living room for a few moments before withdrawing her hand and frowning down at the blood on her fingers. She sighs and walks to the kitchen, wetting a cloth.

“Whoever is haunting this place,” Laura begins, “I don’t know if you’re stuck here coz you’re in pain, or you’re angry, or whatever. But I promise I’ll find out the truth about you and Betty and hopefully help both of you.”

Carmilla studies Laura carefully. _Definitely not the reaction I was expecting when I accidentally knocked a lamp onto you_.

Laura moves to leave the kitchen, only to trip over a stool Carmilla had moved earlier. She lets out a frustrated groan. “And stop moving my crap!” Laura huffs, stomping out of the room.

Carmilla smirks. “Sorry, Laura.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ideas used:  
> \- _"youve been haunting my room since forever and making things move and shit and by now im not even that scared dude just please shut the fuck up and let me sleep"_  
>  \- _"listen, i know you cant help it but you literally drip off ectoplasm every time you phase through walls and IM the one who has to clean it up so can you just use doors maybe??”_  
>  \- _“I came home to you having a tantrum and shaking the house like how ghosts do but apparently thats just an earthquake whoops sorry man–no i dont always assume its you–dUDE NOW YOU GOTTA STOP SHAKING THE HOUSE”_
> 
> Updates will be tagged on tumblr as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au).  
> The fic is also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> As always, feel free to leave a comment or swing by and hit me up on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/). I'm also eyeballing a Monday/Wednesday/Friday update schedule!  
> Thanks for reading and stay awesome! <3


	3. Who Ya Gonna Call?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura's investigation gains traction as the days go by, leading to some major breakthroughs, while Carmilla watches nearby.

Laura opens the video recording software and clears her throat before hitting the record button.

“Well, viewers, it’s been days of researching, and I’m going to summarize what I’ve found so far.”

To be honest, Carmilla’s been curious herself. She took a peek a couple days ago but there were so many documents between the history of house ownership, the deed to the land, newspaper articles about the neighborhood, and information about fault lines that Carmilla could actually feel herself manage to fall asleep, even though it wasn’t possible.

 

Laura squints at the screen and huffs. “First let me just—” She gets up to close the curtains and smiles when she sees the glare on the laptop recording screen is gone. “I guess this ghost here enjoys throwing curtains open and screwing with my lighting,” she grumbles.

Carmilla rolls her eyes so far she's not sure they'll ever come back as Laura settles back down in her seat and sifts through some papers, getting them in order.

Yes, she’s been getting Laura’s nerves, but it’s been a two-way street. Laura’s managed to annoy Carmilla just as much, with her uppity antics and unfaltering determination. Which, incidentally, happen to also be part of her adorableness, as well.

_Get it together, Karnstein._

 

“The original house was a large estate that took up most of this neighborhood back in the seventeenth century,” Laura begins. “It was owned by the Karnsteins, but in 1698, some of the local townspeople rebelled while they were throwing a ball–– something about unfair taxes–– and raided the home, running the residents out of the property. In the process, the family’s only daughter, Mircalla Karnstein, was murdered. That was the first tragic occurrence documented.” Laura swallows hard. She averts her gaze from the camera for a second, picking at the edge of the page. “The poor girl was only 18.”

Carmilla quirks an eyebrow. Laura had never met her, but here she was, caring so much about her premature end? _What an odd girl_.

 

Laura sighs and shuffles some papers around. “After that, the estate was split off into properties with homes, with the main house itself also going through a revolving door of ownerships. By 1872, it was owned by a reclusive man and his daughter. One night, a mysterious fire started. Both the father and daughter escaped, but barely. There’s not much on her, but there were some articles referring to her by the name ‘Ell.’”

Carmilla shifts uncomfortably. _There’s a name I haven’t thought of in a while_.

“The main house basically burnt to the ground and was then rebuilt into what you see before you now, with some renovations over the years. The home that my friend Betty died in.”

Laura’s voice cracks a bit and she clears her throat again to recompose herself.

“I know that deaths are common, especially in a house with this much history. But there’s been a pattern, especially with the girls who move in here. They either move out months after moving in, or just die. And it’s almost like it’s clockwork–– every twenty years.”

 

Carmilla walks over to Laura and stares down at her. She seems to be holding back tears.

“What kind of monster am I dealing with, here?”

Laura takes a deep, shaky breath and taps her fingers on the desk for a few moments.

“Anyway, the haunty stuff hasn’t really stopped. The food has now just flat-out gone missing. Furniture is still moving. The shower drain gets clogged. The curtains are still thrown open in the morning. But other than that, nothing like the house shaking and objects falling on me.” Laura shrugs. “I guess Danny being here did have something to do with it.”

“Points for reaching the same conclusion as me, buttercup,” Carmilla comments. But was it jealousy? _How preposterous_.

 

The doorbell rings and Carmilla sighs as Laura stops the recording and goes to answer it.

“Got your Ouija board from Perry,” LaFontaine calls through the doorway. “You ask for it, Ouija-st deliver it,” they pun.

Laura giggles and takes it. “Wanna come in?”

They shake their head. “Perry’s about to embark on an epic house-cleaning and I wanna be there to make sure she doesn’t overdo it.”

“Doesn’t she already clean the house every day?” Laura asks.

LaF nods. “That’s why you when I describe it as ‘epic,’ it’s gonna be an insane amount of cleaning,” they reply with a wink as they start to leave.

Laura waves goodbye and closes the door. “We’ll use you when I figure out who I’m talking to.” She puts it down by her laptop and starts sifting through papers again.

 

About half an hour passes before Carmilla considers going through Laura’s food cabinets again and vanishing more cookies away from her plane of existence into the ghostly realm. It had taken a few decades before she’d mastered the skill of doing so, but once she did, she was able to transport books and more between planes to keep herself occupied. She normally returned the objects before the owners realized they were missing, but soon it became a fun ghost gimmick. Plus, Laura had great taste in cookies.

A soft alert comes from Laura’s laptop and she clicks on a new email.

 

Carmilla hovers behind her and sees it’s from a scholar who works for a nearby historical archive. The subject line is “Requested Photo.”

The attachment loads and the picture pops up.

Carmilla swallows hard when she recognizes it.

“Whoa.” Laura shifts a bit in her chair. “Hello, Mircalla Karnstein.”

 

It’s an old portrait of a young seventeen-year-old girl with her parents. Carmilla quickly skims the body of the email, which explains that the Karnstein property was sold off at an auction as the estate was split up. The author compliments Laura’s tenacity and dedication to tracking down the portrait’s path through the centuries, as the portrait was kept as a piece of history with no real way to find out who the original subject was.

“At least, I hope you’re Mircalla Karnstein,” Laura adds.

“In the flesh, shortcake,” Carmilla murmurs. “Well, so to speak.”

 

“Wow, you’re really pretty,” Laura says softly. She lets out a small sigh. “I hope you’re not the ghost here right now. You weren’t just the first girl to die here, you were the youngest. I hope you’re at peace after all this time.”

Carmilla walks around and regards Laura carefully, face-to-face. “Are you even real, cupcake?”

For all Laura knew, Carmilla was just a girl who had been murdered centuries ago, the first in a long line of dead girls. But there was something so pure and caring about Laura. It was a kindness she hadn’t seen–– or felt–– for quite some time.

 

And that’s when she feels it.

 

There is an odd shift in the air, a ripple that sends a small shock through the house.

Suddenly, the expression on Laura’s face changes. The slightly grim, pensive look changes to one of shock and surprise.

“Holy fudgsicles,” Laura exhales, eyes wide. “Mircalla Karnstein?”

Carmilla’s mouth drops open and she looks down at herself, trying to ignore the fact that the house is starting to shake again. “Uhm…”

“Mircalla Karnstein,” Laura repeats.

“Y-You can see me?” Carmilla stammers through the house’s rumblings. _This hasn’t happened since…_

“ _Mircalla Karnstein,_ ” Laura repeats again, the color draining from her face. “Oh, Sweet William's Ghost, I’m living with an honest-to-Casper––”

The house jerks with such a force that various objects fly about, and the Ouija board launches off the table, smacking Laura in the face and knocking her out instantly.

 

Carmilla takes several deep breaths and wills herself to calm down at her inexplicable visibility. The house stills, but Laura remains unconscious.

“Oh, cutie,” Carmilla says softly. “What am I going to do with you?”

 

* * *

 

Laura groans and rubs her head and she sits up. “Ugh, where am I?”

She looks around and is somehow in her bedroom. The pounding in her head is making it difficult to think, but she vaguely remembers LaFontaine dropping off an Ouija board… And then…

“The Ouija board!” Laura rolls out of bed and heads back downstairs, ignoring her headache and picking it up off the floor.

Carmilla lounges nearby and watches as Laura places it on the table, frowning at the fact that the girl is rubbing her head but continuing on anyway.

“I ain’t afraid of no ghosts, I ain’t afraid of no ghosts,” Laura repeats, earning a chuckle from Carmilla. She takes a deep breath and steels herself. “Is anyone there?” she asks.

 

Carmilla hesitantly walks over.

“Helloooooo? Anyone there?” Laura tries again, pouting.

She looks so cute that Carmilla can’t resist herself. She reaches for the pointer.

 

 _N-O_.

 

Laura rolls her eyes. “Ha. Ha.” She sighs. “Mircalla Karnstein? Can you please show yourself to me again?”

 _This is such a horrible idea_ , Carmilla frets. But Laura looks so hopeful and soon there’s a ripple in the air again.

 

“It’s Carmilla,” she says, smirking at Laura’s wide-eyed expression as she stands before her. “I’m Carmilla,” she repeats. “I’m your residential ghost, sweetheart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the great feedback so far!  
> You can find updates on tumblr and stuff from the writing process tagged as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au).  
> It's also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> As always, feel free to leave a comment below or swing by and hit up my inbox on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/)!  
> The story folows a Monday/Wednesday/Friday update schedule  
> Stay awesome! <3


	4. As Good As You'll Get

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla tries her best to answer Laura's questions in order to scare her into leaving the house. Of course, Laura's not having it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly more dialogue and less humor in this chapter, but I swear all this exposition is going somewhere! :)

“Uhm, hi, Carmilla,” Laura says shyly, clearly trying not to freak out. The picture of the portrait is still up on her laptop screen. “So… you’re not Mircalla Karnstein?”

“I am and I’m not.”

“Gee, can you vague that up for me?” Laura asks, crossing her arms with a huff.

Carmilla chuckles. “I was born Mircalla Karnstein. You heard about my murder and how the entire estate got torn apart and sold off bit by bit, including the possessions. It didn’t feel like this was my home anymore, so I changed my name to Carmilla. Haven’t gone by Mircalla for a very long time, hon.”

Laura nods. “Makes sense.”

 

Carmilla narrows her eyes at Laura. “You seem oddly okay with having a conversation with a centuries-old ghost.”

Laura shrugs. “I mean, it’s not like you kept your presence here a secret.” She gestures at all the fallen objects around her, obviously annoyed. “You’ve been moving my stuff, stealing my things, hitting me with stuff…”

“Ah, that last part’s been an accident,” Carmilla admits. “I’ve never made the house shake before you came here. New territory for me.”

“Oh, but you’re proud of moving my stuff and stealing my things?” Laura asks, her voice getting increasingly shrill.

Carmilla snickers. “Quite so, cupcake.”

 

“And that’s it? You’ve been around for almost four centuries and your main hobby is stealing people’s things?” Laura frowns.

“You do realize I’ve been watching your every move since you’ve moved in, right? I know you’re investigating the rash of dead girls that have lived here over the years,” Carmilla states bluntly.

Laura swallows hard. “You expect me to believe that you’ve been killing girls for hundreds of years?”

“It’s the truth,” Carmilla sighs. “Every twenty years I lure as many girls as I can to be slaughtered.” She does a curtsy and a bow. “You have your monster.”

“I refuse to believe you’re a monster,” Laura says immediately.

Carmilla scoffs. This was certainly not the reply she was expecting, but she now has no intention of letting Laura become a victim. Chasing her away is the only option. “Believe what you want.”

Laura shakes her head. “I want your side of the story. And then let me decide for myself if you’re really a monster.”

Carmilla lets out an exasperated sigh. “You’re a stubborn, obstinate little thing, you know that?”

Laura nods proudly.

 

Carmilla shrugs and sits down on a chair next to her. “Where should I begin?”

Laura puffs out her cheeks adorably. “You were born here. Tragically murdered in a revolt in 1698 during a ball. Then what?”

“I woke up in the house to find out my body had already been removed from the premises,” Carmilla continues. “Found out I was able to move through objects. The next group of people moved in and I decided to start killing the girls. If I couldn’t live a full life, then why should they?”

Laura looks a bit taken aback, which is the effect Carmilla wants. Since she hasn’t been able to scare Laura by traditional spook tactics, then she might as well give her the monster she’s looking for, even if it’s through lies.

 

The shock in Laura’s eyes is quickly erased with a newfound determination. “No.”

“No?” Carmilla asks, amused.

“No. I don’t believe you’re the monster I’m looking for.”

Carmilla blows out a puff of air and leans back, arms crossed. “Well, like I said before, believe what you want.”

Laura bunches up her face. “Tell me this, Karnstein. If you’re such a horrible person, then why haven’t you killed me?”

Carmilla rolls her eyes. “Well, buttercup, maybe I’m not done playing with you, yet,” she says with a wink.

Laura waves her hand dismissively. “Fine. If you’re not going to be honest with me, then I’m just going to have to keep digging all on my own. Find the monster by myself,” she declares, standing and walking away from Carmilla.

 

Carmilla swallows hard. On the one hand, she wants to chase Laura away. But if that doesn’t work and Laura continues to charge head-first into the situation, then she’ll wind up running right into––

 _No. I can’t let that happen_.

“Wait,” Carmilla says, already hating herself. “Just wait.”

Laura hesitates before pivoting and returning to Carmilla. “More lies?”

Carmilla plays with her fingernails. “If I tell you the true and full story, and you find out just how much danger you’re in, will you leave? Just pack up and leave?”

“If you tell me the truth, I’ll consider it,” Laura says.

 _Guess that’s as good as I’ll get_. “Buckle up, creampuff.”

 

* * *

 

Carmilla finds herself regretting to the agreement for the umpteenth time. Once she warned it was a long story, Laura had asked for a pause so she could get snacks. Apparently she had gone to buy a whole new stock of cookies, and had also made hot chocolate for herself.

Laura settles in on the couch and takes a bite out of a cookie. “I’d, uh, offer you one, but…”

Carmilla snorts and transfers a cookie from Laura’s plane to hers and bites into it.

Laura’s eyes widen. She waves her hand through the cookie and lets out a gasp. “So that’s how you’ve been stealing my cookies!”

“Neat trick, huh?” Carmilla asks with a smirk.

Laura grabs the package and hugs it closer to herself. “No more for you,” she grumbles. “At least not until after the story.”

“Fair enough.”

Carmilla clears her throat.

 

“I was born Mircalla Karnstein. Lived as the daughter of the wealthy owner of this home. On the night of a ball we were holding, there was an uprising over unfairly high taxes. I was murdered while my parents fled.” She says this all monotonously, as if reciting the story of someone else. _Might as well be_ , she muses.

Laura continues to listen intently, understanding that this was not a memory Carmilla wished to continue to harp on.

“When I woke up, I was separated from my body in an ethereal, incorporeal form. Watched as the villagers moved my body from the house. Then, I was approached by a powerful being, who said her name was the Dean. I would later come to know her as ‘Mother,’ a name most of her minions call her.”

Carmilla pauses for a moment and Laura reaches out to nudge her to continue. Her hand hovers as she realizes what she’s about to do and withdraws it, instead offering a warm half-smile.

 

“I had known nothing of Mother for a while, except that she was very old and very wise and had pried apart the jaws of death many times for others in addition to myself. And for years, I didn’t have any obligations and could prank anyone living here to my heart’s content. With each new resident, I had my fun scaring them… being there but not being there. It was oddly liberating, even though I was confined to this house. Twenty years passed quickly.”

Carmilla swallows hard and Laura doesn’t seem to know what to do, so she picks up the package of cookies, gesturing for Carmilla to take another.

“Uhm, maybe after this tale, cupcake,” Carmilla says through a small chuckle.

Laura nods and takes one for herself.

“After twenty years, Mother came back to me. Said the payment for my extra time on this Earth was to procure her a nice young girl by using my scare tactics to weaken her mentally. Fear does that to people, y’know? The lack of sleep and paranoia makes them ripe for the taking…” Carmilla sighs. “So I did it once. And then twenty years later, I did it again. And again twenty years later…”

 

Laura’s eyes widen as she chews slowly. “What happens to them?” she asks hesitantly.

“I didn’t ask,” Carmilla replies with a dejected shrug.

“Ever?”

Carmilla stares down into her hands, cradled in her lap.

“Carm?” Laura tries softly.

Carmilla smiles at the nickname. Maybe it was time to change her name again. Maybe.

“1872.”

“Huh?”

Carmilla looks up carefully. “I didn’t ask until 1872.”

“1872… Wasn’t that the year…”

Carmilla swallows hard. “Ell.”

She hadn’t said her name in so long…

 

“That was the year Mother took Ell from me.” She can feel tears forming but she wills them not to fall. “She was my mark that year. It was just her and her father living here. And she was so, so lonely. And Ell had these eyes that, if you stared into them, made you feel like the world was a better place and that everything could be fine. There was so much love and warmth she had to give.”

Her voice cracks and once again, Laura reaches out to pat her on the leg. This time she realizes that her hand will phase through Carmilla, but allows it to happen anyway.

Carmilla clears her throat to continue. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let her light be snuffed out from this world. I asked Mother more about the sacrifices, and when she dodged my questions, I flat-out refused to take Ell. So she burned the entire house to the ground, trying to kill Ell in it.”

Laura’s eyes widen.

“I managed to get Ell and her father out in time, but n-not before…” Carmilla takes a shaky breath. “Not before she saw me.”

“She saw you?”

Carmilla nods, sniffling. “Ell was the first human to see me, and the only one other than you. She could see me, but her father couldn’t. And she screamed at me that I was a monster and to leave her alone. Then they fled from the house and I never heard about her again.”

“But she lived,” Laura says, trying to keep her tone light and hopeful. “You did that. You saved her. You’re not a monster.”

 

Carmilla laughs wryly.

“I’m serious,” Laura says, pouting. “Ever since 1872, there were more reports about the people living here fleeing every twenty years. Less about missing, dead girls. That was you, right? Scaring them away?”

“It didn’t do anything, Laura,” Carmilla replies darkly.

Laura furrows her eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

“I’m hardly Mother’s only source of girls. She’s been gathering them up all around the world from other entities or ghosts. I’m just a cog in the machine. Lacking one girl because of me has hardly slowed her down. It just pisses her off and recently she’s gotten more and more demanding.”

Laura scoffs. “So, what? You’re just gonna piss her off for the rest of eternity?”

“What else is there to do?” Carmilla says with a shrug.

 

“Fight back!” Laura shouts, as if it’s obvious. “We get you out of this mess and take you out of the equation altogether and stop your Mother from taking any more girls.”

Carmilla stares at her. “You really believe that. You actually think you can stop some centuries-old monster from a game she’s been playing––”

“––It’s not a game,” Laura interrupts. “She’s not just _toying_ around with these girls. And she’s not toying around with you. This is life-or-death-or-after-death.”

Carmilla shakes her head. “Laura, I told you all of this so that you’d understand how dire the situation is. You need to leave. You need to go, or––”

“––Or you’ll hand me over to her?”

“ _Or she’ll try to kill you, too!_ ” Carmilla yells, shocking Laura into silence.

 

A few tense moments go by before Laura licks her lips and swallows hard.

“No. I’m not leaving you here with her–– with this monster. You’ve been saving all these girls and… you deserve better than that.”

Carmilla stares at her, regarding her carefully. No one else had ever told her that before, or made her feel like she was worth anything. She doesn’t know how to process all this so she simply laughs dryly. “Then you’ll die.”

She vanishes from Laura’s sight and Laura lets out a small sigh.

“Some people are worth dying for.”

 

Carmilla stares down at Laura, now unable to be seen or heard by her. “I’m not one of them, cutie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say, your kind words so far have made this tiny creampuff very, _very_ happy? :D  
>  Updates on tumblr and stuff from the writing process are tagged as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au).  
> The story is also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> As always, feel free to leave a comment here or swing by my inbox on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/)!  
> Next update is Friday :)  
> Stay awesome! <3


	5. Un-living Conditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura and her friends try to find out more about Carmilla.

“So. Your ghost’s name is Carmilla Karnstein. She died here in 1698. She was ferrying girls off to some monster named the Dean until 1872, when she began trying to save as many as she could by scaring them off,” LaF summarizes. “And now you wanna separate her from the house to save her, and vanquish the Dean. Did I miss anything?”

Laura shakes her head, flipping through a book. “Nope, that’s it.”

“‘That’s it,’” Perry scoffs. “Laura, this is insane.”

 

“I agree with the uppity redhead,” Carmilla says, still unable to be heard by anyone. “Which I never thought I’d say.”

“You can’t just go head-to-head with this thing without knowing the first thing about it,” Perry continues.

“That’s why we’re splitting this up,” Laura says, turning another page. “That is, assuming you guys still wanna help?”

Danny nods immediately. “Yeah, Hollis, totes still game.”

“I guess,” Perry sighs. “Depending on what you need us to do?”

Laura gives them a grateful smile. “I haven’t totally figured out a game plan, yet. But when I do, I’ll let you guys know?”

Perry nods before she stops abruptly and looks around. “So… d-does that mean Carmilla’s around right now?”

 

“Uhm, I think so,” Laura says. “I don’t see her or anything, so I’m not sure. But since we spoke she's still eating my cookies and opening my curtains…”

“I wonder what she does with all her free time if she’s not scaring or pranking you,” LaF comments.

Laura giggles. “If I was a ghost, I’d turn the TV over to BBC and make them watch nothing but _Doctor Who_ and _Torchwood_ or _Orphan Black_. Or find some _Buffy_ re-runs.”

Carmilla rolls her eyes.

“Or, I’d collect all the dust in the house. And the person living here would be like, ‘wow, my house is so clean, I wonder why!’ And then they’d open like a closet or something and that’s where I’d put all the dust,” Laura continues.

A ripple in the air. “Oh, geez, buttercup, you’re even more lame than I thought you were.”

 

Laura yelps and jumps out of her seat upon seeing Carmilla sitting on the couch next to her.

“What? What is it?” Danny asks at Laura’s sudden outburst.

“Y-You guys can’t see her?” Laura asks, clutching her chest.

“Nope, that privilege is reserved just for you, cutie,” Carmilla purrs.

Perry looks around the room. “See who? Carmilla? Is she here right now?”

Laura nods and sits back down, chewing her lip. “I, uh, thought you did a ghost version of storming off. I wasn’t sure if you were gonna come back.”

“Of course I’m back,” Carmilla says simply. “Not really like I can go anywhere.”

“I meant… I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again,” Laura admits quietly.

Carmilla’s face softens a bit before she clicks her tongue and brings the sass back. “Dream on, creampuff. I’m not going anywhere.”

 

“What's she saying?” LaF asks, curious.

“Oh, you know. Usual vague and annoying stuff my ghost likes to say.”

Carmilla chuckles. “Oh, I'm _your_ ghost, am I?”

Laura grins. “Well, duh. Who else would it be? You're _my_ terrible roommate.” She gives Carmilla a warm smile and Carmilla rolls her eyes with a smirk.

 

“Well, as fun as it is watching Laura talk to herself,” LaF says, eliciting a laugh from Laura, “if we have her here, I have some questions I wanna ask.”

“Shoot,” Carmilla says. “…As in, ‘shoot me,’ because I’d rather they do that than to have to sit through their inane questions.”

“Oh, please. If we shoot you, all that’d do is leave a hole in my wall,” Laura quips.

LaF paces back and forth. “Does Carmilla know if there’s a Heaven or Hell?”

“Oh, yeah,” Carmilla comments. “Hell is run by this little scrawny dude named Steve. Not too sure about the good place, though.”

Laura narrows her eyes in a playful glare at the dry sarcasm. “What’s wrong with the name Steve?”

“ _Nothing_ ,” Carmilla replies teasingly. “That’s why it’s the name of the guy who owns Hell.”

 

Laura giggles and looks at a confused LaF. “She, ah, didn’t answer your question. Not seriously, anyway.”

“What about that goop you kept finding around the house?” Perry asks, crinkling up her nose in disgust. “LaFontaine tried analyzing it but came up empty.”

They nod sadly. “Nothing with the mass spec or the TLC or IR…”

Carmilla snorts. “I guess the colloquial term would be ‘ectoplasm.’”

“Ew!” Laura gags. “You’ve been shedding lumps of your ghostly skin around the house?”

“I’m slightly more classy than that, sweetheart,” Carmilla drawls. “It only happens when I pass through a wall.”

Laura raises an eyebrow while Danny, LaF, and Perry look at her expectantly.

“Uhm, she says it’s like ectoplasm. It only happens when she goes through a wall?”

 

“Interesting,” LaF hums. “Why is that?”

Carmilla shrugs. “I think it was explained to me once by Mother, but I wasn’t paying attention. Something about the excess energy necessary to go through structures that weren’t there when I was alive.”

Laura bunches up her face in confusion. “Huh?”

“That’s why there’s that stereotype about ghosts passing through walls, hon,” Carmilla chuckles. “Most ghosts continue to wander around homes the same way they remember, regardless of new walls that new residents put up. But the extra energy needed to pass through something fundamental to the foundation is removed from a ghost’s body and left behind as ectoplasm.”

 

Laura waves her hands around in exasperation. “So you were wasting energy passing through walls just to get on my nerves?”

Carmilla shrugs with a grin. “Made up for that by eating your cookies.”

Laura groans and rolls her eyes.

“Plus it was worth it just to see that adorable annoyed look on your face.”

“My annoyed face is not adorable,” Laura grumbles.

“Yes, it is,” Danny comments immediately.

Laura gives Danny a goofy grin and Carmilla lets out a growl. The house lets out a small rumble and Laura’s eyes widen.

 

“Cut it out,” she mumbles to Carmilla, who crosses her arms with a huff.

“Cut what out?” Danny asks.

Laura shakes her head. “Not you. Carmilla,” she clarifies.

“Too bad something didn’t fall on _the Big Unfriendly Giant’s_ head,” Carmilla growls.

Laura frowns. “I think maybe you guys should leave,” she says hesitantly. “Our resident spook seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the coffin this morning.”

Perry and LaF rise and wave goodbye, while Danny gives Laura a small hug.

“Come back never,” Carmilla snarks.

 

Laura closes the door behind them. “Okay, what gives?” She stares at Carmilla, who shrugs and starts to visibly fade away. “Oh, no, you don’t,” Laura says through clenched teeth. “Explanation. Now.”

Carmilla gives her a blank, disinterested stare.

“Please?” Laura begs, eyes wide between batting her eyelashes.

Carmilla rolls her eyes. “Fine, fine. Why are you crushing on the red-haired string bean?”

Laura furrows her eyebrows together. “I’m not…?”

“Oh, please,” Carmilla scowls. She clasps her hands together next to her face mockingly and raises her voice to become shriller. “Danny, you’re _amazing_! Such a great neighbor!”

Laura scoffs. “She’s been a great friend since I moved here.”

 

“Well, I’ve said it before but you didn’t hear me. She has no interest in just being your friend, cutie.”

Laura narrows her eyes at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come _on_ , even you can’t be that naïve.” Carmilla cocks her head to the side. “She wants to _date you_ , Hollis.”

Laura barks with laughter and throws her head back. Carmilla involuntarily cracks a smile at the sound but clears her throat and quirks an eyebrow, waiting for Laura to compose herself.

“D-Danny does _not_ want to date me,” Laura says, wiping tears from her eyes. “She started dating someone a few days ago! We’re just friends.”

Carmilla harrumphs but doesn’t seem to have a response ready.

“When I first moved in, we were spending a lot of time together here, puzzling over the mystery, and hanging out outside of the house,” Laura admits. “But she’s a little too clingy, y’know? So after you smashed a lamp over my head I had a talk with her about maybe backing off a bit. She was kinda offended but respected my request and then this guy asked her out…”

 

“Oh. Swell,” Carmilla nods, looking vaguely sheepish.

Laura giggles. “Why did you care so much, anyway?”

Carmilla stares at Laura for a few moments, looking very vulnerable. Finally she swallows hard and smirks. “I have to keep some of my secrets. Otherwise I’ll lose my air of mystery, won’t I?”

She slowly fades out again, and this time Laura seems too dumbfounded to stop her in time.

“Wait. Wait! Were you—were you just flir- flirting with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt borrowed from [here](http://onetruepairingideas.tumblr.com/post/137850708607/ghost-aus):  
> \- _“every time some lame ass person asks me if theres a heaven or hell i make up some shit story about how there is a devil and his name is Melvin and u absolute morons buy it every time”_  
>  Updates and stuff from the writing process are tagged on tumblr as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au).  
> The story is also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> As always, feel free to leave a comment here or hit me up on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/)!  
> Next update is Monday :D Have a great weekend!!  
> Thanks for reading and stay awesome! <3


	6. Visitors, Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura is hanging out with her friends when a new danger simply walks through the front door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh <3 you guys have been absolutely amazing! I swear, you all make the months I spent on this so worth it ^-^

“So you haven't seen Carmilla in a couple days?” Perry asks, absentmindedly dusting Laura’s living room.

Laura gives LaFontaine a puzzled look at Perry’s actions, but they merely shrug, looking amused as they take a bite out of some sweets put out for company. Perry had a tendency to clean Laura’s house while they were doing research, but it was still an odd sight to behold. “Uhm, nope,” Laura replies. “Just the random cookie grab or curtain thing. Kinda stopped with the furniture business, though.”

“Once again, ya gotta wonder what the ghost does in her spare time when she's not around you,” LaF says, taking a sip of hot chocolate. “What if this whole ‘nice ghost’ thing is just a ruse and she's actually still plotting a way to get her Mother to take you away?”

Laura frowns. “Carm wouldn't do that,” she replies immediately.

 

“Glad you have a lotta faith in me, babe,” Carmilla comments, appearing on the couch next to Laura. “Misplaced faith, but still.”

Laura giggles. “I figure if you wanted to feed me to your mother, you would've done that by now.”

“Ah, but then who would buy the cupcakes?”

“Talking to yourself again, Hollis?” LaF teases.

Laura chuckles and shakes her head as a cupcake disappears from view and moves into Carmilla’s hand. She starts to fire back a reply when there's a knock at the door.

 

Laura bounces over to answer it. “Ah! Hi, Danny.”

Carmilla’s face wrinkles up in disgust. “And that's my cue to—“

“--And who's this?” Laura asks.

“This is Mel,” Danny says. “She's a friend from college. Hope you don't mind I brought her along, too?”

Carmilla feels a weird vibe as the trio walks into the house and she decides not to disappear as she had planned.

“No, no, it's fine,” Laura insists. “Have some cupcakes!”

 

Mel enters the room behind Danny and Laura and reaches forward before pausing. She looks up from the plate and then—right at Carmilla. Her eyes hover for a few moments longer before she shrugs and grabs a cupcake.

Laura and Carmilla share an uneasy, confused look.

“So, uh, how was Danny in college?” Laura asks.

Mel looks distracted, so Danny starts to answer instead. “Freshman year, she was this little nerd. And I was this snotty athlete. But we were roommates and I guess opposites attract. Not exactly prime grounds for a friendship, but we were good for each other. Kept each other in our toes. Am I right, Mel?”

They glance over but Mel is staring at a spot on the floor. “One moment, please,” she mumbles before turning and walking outside.

 

“Is she okay?” Laura asks.

Danny frowns and shrugs. “I've never seen her act like that before.”

Carmilla scoffs. “Wow, buttercup. You invite real winners into this house.”

“Be nice,” Laura scolds. The others give her a confused look and she gestures at the couch cushions where Carmilla is sitting, hoping her annoyed expression would fill in the blanks.

“You're telling me to be nice, when she's the one who got into a staring contest with me?” Carmilla asks, offended.

“Just because she looked at you doesn't mean she knows you're here,” Laura sighs. “I know this is your home, but can't you be a little more lenient about letting people in?”

Carmilla rolls her eyes. “Hon, I may live here, but this isn't my home. I don't even have a bed with a pillow. So forgive me if I think anyone walking through the front door is infringing on my space.”

Laura huffs and walks upstairs. A few minutes pass before she comes back down, holding a large yellow pillow. She tosses it towards Carmilla, who stares down at it.

“I can't help you with your lack of bed, but here's a pillow. Take it into your ghostly plane as a peace offering from all humans in this household, and be nicer to people, okay?” she asks hopefully.

Carmilla frowns and transfers it into her hands, giving it a gentle squeeze. Shes not sure what it is about it, but she loves it immediately. It has an aura around it, a feeling she hasn't felt since she was alive, but she can't place it.

She sighs and scowls. “Fine.”

 

Mel walks back in and slowly sits down, clearing her throat. She takes a cupcake off the plate and slowly unwraps it. “So, Laura, how long have you lived here?”

 

“Almost two months,” Laura replies.

“I feel kinda weird, cupcake,” Carmilla says.

Laura raises an eyebrow. “Kitchen.” The others give her a confused look and she clears her throat. “I’m going to the kitchen,” she says to them, giving Carmilla a pointed glance on her way out.

Carmilla trails after her.

“What do you mean, you’re feeling weird?” Laura asks. “Like, other than you already feeling weird when people are in the house?”

“For the record, I don’t feel weird when it’s just you in the house,” Carmilla says, vaguely flirtatiously. Laura rolls her eyes. “But I don’t know how to explain it. I feel… weaker?” Suddenly she lets out a yelp and clutches her chest and stomach with her hands.

“Carm!” Laura rushes to her side and tries to hold her up but the effort is made in vain.

 

“You can see her, too?” a voice demands from the doorway.

Laura and Carmilla both glance over to see Mel.

“What did you do?” Laura demands.

Carmilla is now writhing in the floor in pain.

“ _What did you do?_ ” Laura repeats urgently.

Mel swallows hard but stands her ground. “I'm purging your residence of this malicious spirit.”

The others have now run in and slowly conclude what's happening.

“She's not malicious!” Laura yells.

“Well, her aura says otherwise,” Mel scoffs.

Laura growls. “Undo whatever you did!”

 

Mel crosses her arms. “Like hell I will. My grandma may not have had all her marbles but I still remember all the stuff she told me from her ghost hunting days. And I can tell from that ghosts aura that she's been responsible for more than eating your cupcakes! She’ll be dragged to Hell where she belongs.”  

Laura slams a fist against her kitchen counter. “Get her out of here! See if you can find out what the heck she did to Carm!”

Danny nods and drags Mel out, followed by LaF, who's muttering something about advanced interrogation techniques.

Perry lingers behind. “How bad is it?” she frets.

 

Laura looks back down at Carmilla, who is starting to visibly fade as her groans weaken to whimpers.

“This is bad, Perry. This is really bad.”

Perry sucks in a breath and places her hand on her hip. “You really care about her, don't you?”

Laura nods, biting her lip. “It's crazy, isn't it? We've only really known each other for, like, a week and a half. And she's a terrible person—er, terrible ghost. But she's _my_ terrible ghost…”

Perry gives Laura a small smile. “That's all I needed to know.” She pivots and walks out of the room.

 

“I'm … _your_ ghost, huh…?” Carmilla asks, her voice drained and barely above a whisper.

“Y-You heard that?” Laura bunches up her face. “You’re getting delirious, I’ve said it about you before.”

Carmilla lets out a soft laugh. “Who knew… you had such a …possession kink?”

Laura giggles, trying to keep her voice strong. “Stay with me, Carm. Just hold on, okay? Save your strength for, y’know, not fading off into Hell. Don’t use it for making quippy remarks.”

 

Carmilla lets out a hum before closing her eyes and falling silent. If Laura didn't know better, she'd think the girl beside her was asleep.

“Carm? Carm?” Laura's voice cracks. “Carm?”

Perry rushes in. “Did it work? Is she still here?”

Laura looks down and Carmilla is definitely returning back to a totally visible state. “Uhm, I think so? She seems to be asleep. Except she never sleeps…”

“She's probably just really tired. From not being wiped from existence,” Perry clarifies. “But otherwise she'll be perfectly fine.”

Laura nods, choking back a relieved sob. “What did you do?”

Perry chuckles. “Well, dear, let's just say I had a Wiccan phase in college. Mel had set up a charm—no doubt that's what she did when she excused herself earlier—so I simply disarmed it.”

“How'd you do that?”

Perry shrugs. “I yanked it off the front doorknob.”

  

* * *

 

 

“So, what did we learn the other day, cutie?” Carmilla asks teasingly.

“Perry has a standing invitation and Mel is permanently banned?” Laura replies, bringing over a package of cookies while Carmilla gives her a thumbs-up. “How's it feel to have slept for two days?”

“Weird considering I haven't slept in almost four centuries, I guess. Oddly refreshing.”

“Maybe that means you'll stop being so grumpy,” Laura teases.

Carmilla rolls her eyes. “Perhaps I would be so grumpy if you weren't so annoying and grating,” she states flatly.

“What you call annoying and grating, someone else might find endearing,” Laura giggles.

“Mmhmm,” Carmilla hums, unconvinced. She takes a cookie. “Well, when you find that someone, send them my condolences.”

 

There's a knock at the door and Laura goes to answer it while Carmilla remains lounging on the couch. “Uhh, hi. Can I help you.”

“Ah, hello. Laura Hollis, I presume.”

Carmilla’s eyes widen at the sound of a familiar voice. _Shit_. She rolls off the couch and rushes to the door, standing beside Laura as she nods to their visitor.

 

“Mattie! Whattya doin’ here?” Carmilla asks, her tone suddenly more saccharine than Laura has ever heard it.

Laura raises an eyebrow. “Mattie?”

Before she and Carmilla can process that she just acknowledged Carmilla’s presence, Mattie lets out a surprised chuckle. “My, my. You can hear Carmilla. How interesting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates and posts from the writing process are tagged as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au) on tumblr.  
> The story is also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> As always, feel free to leave a comment below or swing by my inbox on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/)!  
> Next update is Wednesday.  
> Stay awesome! :D  
> 


	7. Visitors, Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura faces the wrath of Mattie until they come to an agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I realized after I posted the last update that I never replied to comments from the previous chapter. Sorry about that! Life got a little crazy this past weekend haha.  
> But I hope you enjoy Mattie in this chapter! :D

Laura's eyes widen and she gulps. “Carm, who is this?”

Mattie flashes her a large, unsettling smile. “May I come in?” Without waiting for a reply, she brushes past Laura and takes a seat without any formalities, as if she owns the place.

Laura scowls. “Suuure. Just make yourself right at home,” she growls.

“Easy, cupcake,” Carmilla comments, amused. “Mattie’s basically a sister to me. I'm sure she has a reason for visiting.”

 

“Of course I do, my little monster,” Mattie replies affectionately as Carmilla and Laura enter the room. “I have much better things to do than babysit you. Although I'll admit I have missed you.”

“I've missed you, too,” Carmilla says, and Mattie stands while Carmilla wraps her arms around her in a wide hug. Mattie returns a small pat on her back.

“Whoa, you can touch her?” Laura asks, mouth dropping open.

Mattie lets Carmilla go and narrows her eyes at Laura. “And you can hear her. And apparently see her. How is that happening? I'm not sensing a witch or ghost hunter vibe from you. I could be wrong. But I'm not, as a general rule.”

Laura shrugs. “It just sorta… happened?”

Mattie looks over at Carmilla but she merely mimics Laura’s shrug.

 

“How intriguing,” Mattie says, giving Laura an unnerving grin. “No history of witches or anything like that in your family?”

Laura shakes her head. “Just a dead mom and a clingy dad.”

“How come I've never seen this clingy dad, cutie?” Carmilla asks, choosing to tactfully sidestep the comment about Laura’s mother.

Laura takes a cookie and offers the package to Mattie, who wrinkles her nose in disgust. She starts to fire back a response to her rudeness but Carmilla shoots Laura a look so she just lets out a long sigh.

“My dad thinks I’m busy with an internship,” Laura replies.

Carmilla quirks an eyebrow.

“I’ll explain later,” Laura comments vaguely, looking over at Mattie.

 

Mattie does an exaggerated yawn. “Yes, as I invested as I was in your life story, I did have another purpose for this visit.”

“I assume the usual,” Carmilla drawls. “Mother wants to know what's taking so long to serve up this girl to her.”

Laura swallows hard and Mattie smirks. “Not to mince words, but yes. What is taking so long? At least for an update?”

Carmilla shrugs. “Nothing to report. She's not getting this one. I just gave her a perfectly good sacrifice a few months ago.”

Laura shifts uncomfortably.

 

“‘Nothing to report?’” Mattie scoffs. “This girl can see and hear you and we don't know why. She's here digging around and clearly aware of this whole scheme. I'm pretty sure she's been recording it all on that laptop over there and plans to do God-knows-what with the footage. And you don't think there's anything to report?”

Carmilla and Laura share a look and neither reply to her.

“Darling, please don't tell me you've fallen for this one, too. You're always asking Mother to spare this poet and that musician—”

“This is different, Mattie. I won't let you hurt her.” Carmilla’s voice is soft, but unwavering.

Mattie blinks in surprise before letting out a small chuckle. “I'd like to see you tr—“ Something catches her eye by the front door and she cuts herself off. She narrows her eyes in thought and purses her lips together.

“Mattie? You okay?” Carmilla frowns.

 

“You, little Laura Hollis,” Mattie says, slowly turning to face her, venom dripping from each word. “You may have my beloved sister fooled. But her saying she won't let me hurt you doesn't mean a damn thing to me.”

Without warning, her hand flies out and Laura soars across the room, back slamming into a wall. She lands to the floor with a grunt while Carmilla stares at Mattie, eyes wide and mouth open. Mattie keeps her arm up and flicks her wrist, and Laura quickly rises off the ground and is pinned against the wall. She balls her hand into a fist and Laura lets out a choking sound.

Laura wriggles against the wall, bringing her hands up to her throat as if she can free herself from the force holding her there.

“Mattie! What are you doing?” Carmilla yells. “Let her go!”

Laura struggles harder as Mattie tightens her fist. “Don’t think I will, hon,” Mattie spits out. “I saw a charm by the front door. It's used by amateur ghost hunters to pull ghosts out of the plane you’re in and send them off to Hell. So unless you have a vacation planned there you didn't tell me about…”

“Not… Mine…” Laura gasps out. Her fighting is starting to weaken.

 

Mattie lets out a cruel laugh. “I heard more convincing lies at the Salem witch trials. Nice try.”

“Mattie, she's telling the truth! It was a charm that belonged to some crazy person visiting the house, but Laura kept it from yanking me there. She's not trying to hurt me!”

Mattie hesitates as Laura is starting to fall unconscious.

“Mattie, please, let her go,” Carmilla pleads.

Another moment passes before Mattie's arm drops and Laura crumples to the floor. Carmilla rushes to her side and a hand hovers over her back as Laura gasps for air.

 

“You okay, cupcake?”

Laura groans. “Oh, yeah. Peachy,” she replies, voice raspy.

Carmilla frowns at her but doesn't say anything else.

Mattie places one hand on her hip and rolls her eyes. “Please, you didn't even come close to dying. …which you should be thankful for, considering you should have died before Carm even had a chance to beg for your life.”

Laura clears her throat and slowly hobbles to a couch, trailed by a concerned Carmilla.

 

“Look, I'm not trying to hurt Carm,” Laura says once she's settled in.

Mattie doesn't look convinced. “Then why are you still here? If you don't want to harm her then I won't kill you myself. But what's to stop me from dragging you off to Mother?”

Laura looks over at Carmilla, who gives her a small nod. She takes a deep breath. “I came here because the previous… sacrifice was my college roommate. And I was investigating what happened and doing research on this house and on Carmilla since she was the first person to die here. A few days ago she popped up in front of me. And after some convincing she told me everything.”

“That doesn't answer my question, hon,” Mattie sighs impatiently. “You know everything. Why are you still here?”

Laura wrings her hands nervously. “I'm… not sure I should tell you that.”

Mattie raises an eyebrow.

“You work for Mother! I'm not gonna tell you everything just for you to blab it to her,” Laura huffs.

 

Mattie’s lips twitch upward into a smirk. “Something tells me you're a blabber regardless.”

Carmilla chuckles at Laura’s positively offended expression. “I appreciate all the hush-hush, cutie. I know it must be hard for you. But you can trust Mattie. She won't divulge everything to Mother if it'd hurt me in the process.”

Laura pouts. “Ya sure?” Carmilla nods and Laura proceeds slowly. “I want… To free Carmilla from this house.” Mattie's eyes widen and Laura quickly presses on. “N-Not in the, sending her off to Hell by way of pain-inducing charm. More like, remove the house’s hold on her so she can be free to roam the world. Not be stuck here feeding people to her Mother.”

 

Mattie lets out a hearty laugh and Laura actually jumps in surprise. The laughter continues for a few seconds as Laura shifts uncomfortably.

“Oh, Carm, now I get it! You're protecting this one out of pity because she's certifiably _insane_.”

Laura crosses her arms with a huff. “Am not.”

“Mattie, whether or not Laura can free me-- she's harmless, okay? She doesn't want to harm me or call in ghost hunters to get rid of me. And if Mother is rushing to get her, then she's just being greedy.”

Mattie's face softens as she looks straight at Carmilla. “Greedy or not, when she demands a sacrifice to that ancient fish god Lophiiformes to keep her in power, you are in no position to turn her down.”

“Unless we are,” Laura says defiantly.

Mattie waves her hand at her dismissively. “Oh, give it up--”

 

“No!” Laura blurts out, shocking both Carmilla and Mattie, as well as herself. She takes a deep breath. “You think you're the first person to say that? ‘Give up, Laura.’ ‘Your videos won’t work.’ ‘Your roommate’s death was natural.’ ‘You’re not strong enough.’ ‘Give up.’ ‘Give up.’ ‘Give up.’ I’m still here.”

 

Mattie looks at her, with less malice than before, and with more of a general curiosity.

Laura closes her eyes and takes another deep breath, trying to calm herself down. “You work for her, right? But I assume it's more for self preservation on your part and not because it's by choice.” Mattie doesn't react one way or the other, so Laura takes this as a signal to continue. “If… I can free Carm, and if I can find a way to stop Mother from taking more sacrifices, or if I can get rid of her altogether… Wouldn't that be worth stalling, even for a bit?”

 

Mattie settles back in her seat, pensive. “That's a whole lot of if’s, sweetie.” She looks over at Carmilla, who offers Mattie a small smile and a shrug. “Fine. If Carm wants to place her bets on the stunted pony in this horse race, so be it.”

She rises and flattens her skirt before fixing Laura with a pointed glare. “But if anything happens to her, I will string you up like a piñata and beat you to death slowly with a baguette. Are we clear?”

Carmilla rolls her eyes while Laura nods. “Yup. Crystal.”

“Good.” She opens her arms to Carmilla for a hug. “Be safe, you sap,” she says warmly.

“Bye, Mattie.”

Without another word, she turns to leave and closes the door behind her.

 

Laura waits until the footsteps are out of earshot before flopping forward on the couch with a groan.

“So, uhm, how do you really feel?” Carmilla asks softly.

“Like I almost got strangled to death by your sister,” Laura sighs.

Carmilla frowns. “I'm sorry.”

Laura picks her head up and mimics Carmilla’s frown. “Why are you apologizing?”

 

“I'm just… You almost died. Because of me. Not really sure my little incorporeal butt is worth it.”

Laura cocks her head to the side, confused. “‘Not worth it?’ Carm, of course you are. You've been saving people whenever you can. You've been saving me. Don't you think you deserve for someone to save you for a change?”

Carmilla averts her eyes.

“Hey.” Laura gives her a small smile as Carmilla slowly looks back up at her. “Can I let you in on a secret? I'm not really sure I’m worth all the trouble of you saving me, either.” She wiggles her eyebrows and Carmilla chuckles. “But clearly we think the other one is worth it, so I guess that'll have to be enough?”

Carmilla nods. “Yes. Good enough for me, shortcake.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates and stuff from the writing process are tagged on tumblr as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au).  
> The story is also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> As always, feel free to leave a comment here or hit me up on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/)!  
> Next update is Friday :D  
> Thanks for reading and stay awesome! <3


	8. The Things You Don’t See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura's friends get together to come up with a plan, while she finds out a little more about Carmilla

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a longer update! Enjoy!

“Are you sure you can trust this Mattie character?” Perry asks, fretting.

LaFontaine nods, their expression mirroring Perry’s. “Not really sure we can accept the word of someone who almost strangled you to death.”

Laura shrugs. “She's just… An overprotective sister,” she explains. “Who just happens to be a witch okay with killing nosy residents of this house.”

“Darn, and here I was, thinking I was special,” Carmilla sighs from across the room. “But apparently you give everyone a pass.”

“It's not a pass,” Laura says, narrowing her eyes playfully. “I just… don't believe Mattie's evil. Plus, she did call the house last night to say she’s stalled your Mother with a vague explanation for why you’re taking so long.” She wiggles her eyebrows. “And by the way, you are-- special.”

 

“Okay, Crushes-on-Ghosts,” LaF teases, laughing as Laura swats them in annoyance. “So Per and I were talking last night and we had an idea. You know how Carmilla is stuck haunting this piece of property?” Laura nods. “Did she have like, a contract?”

Carmilla nods. “Verbal one, but I don't remember most of it.”

Laura rolls her eyes. “The useless ghost says it was verbal but she doesn't remember most of it.”

Perry sighs. “Well, here's our idea. What if the thing tying her here is a deal? And the deal is that she can only be a spirit if she's stuck here?”

Laura and Carmilla nod. “Makes sense,” Laura replies.

“So what if the reverse is true? She's stuck here because she's a spirit?” LaF adds.

 

“Where are they going with this, buttercup?” Carmilla asks Laura. “I'm getting bored.”

Laura cocks her head to the side, irritated, and Perry and LaF look at her, confused.

“Carmilla's being annoying. Continue,” Laura says, earning a smirk from Carmilla.

“Our idea is that we might be able to stop Carmilla from having to haunt this place if she's no longer a ghost,” Perry says.

She lets this sink in for a bit while Laura chews her lip in thought.

 

“How would that be possible? Like, make her a human again?” Laura asks.

LaF shakes their head. “I'm thinking that ship has sailed, Laur,” they sigh. “But we bumped into Danny and her boyfriend earlier and told them this theory and he got all excited about something and dragged her off.”

“Then we got a vague text from her this morning saying to come over here and explain everything to you before they come here,” Perry finishes.

Carmilla lets out a long yawn and stretches. “Oh boy. Can't wait.”

Laura pouts. “Be nice. They're helping.”

“I'll believe it when I see it,” Carmilla snorts. “Don't get your hopes up, cutie. They don't know me so they don't owe me anything—”

 

The doorbell rings and Laura goes to open it. “Uh, hi, Danny.”

Four sets of footsteps enter the living room—belonging to Laura, Danny, and two guys.

“This is my boyfriend, Wilson Kirsch,” Danny introduces.

A guy with a goofy grin waves. “Hi! I'm Kirsch.”

“Real brain trust over here,” Carmilla retorts, earning a glare from Laura. “I'm just saying, the last person the red string bean brought over tried to expel my ass to Hell.”

 

“And this is William J.P.,” Danny continues, pointing to a slightly smaller man.

He does a small wave and seems more jittery.

“You can call me J.P.–– Will was more of a frat name, but that's cool, too.”

Laura smiles at him and offers them all cookies.

“Danny tells us you have a ghost you want to make a not-ghost,” Kirsch offers.

Laura laughs nervously. “Oh, did she?”

“Yeah!” He gestures at the other guy. “But she said there's probably no way to bring this ghost back from the dead, so I thought, you know, why bring her back from the dead when she can just make her a different kind of dead?”

 

“Does anyone here know what he's saying?” Perry asks, clearly getting impatient.

“Dudes, I'm saying we make this ghost living with tiny hottie into a vampire! Like with the fangs and drinking blood and stuff!”

They all stare at him in disbelief for several seconds before Danny clears her throat. “Okay, let's start over,” she says, giving Kirsch a pitying smile. “LaF and Perry figured out that Carmilla is only here as a ghost so long as she's fulfilling her end of the deal with Mother by haunting the place and bringing her sacrifices, right? But if the deal works both ways, if Carmilla is not a ghost, then she doesn't have to haunt the house anymore. So Kirsch and I came up with the idea that if we want to keep Carmilla here, on this plane and not like, wherever Mel wanted to send her, we need to turn her into something else dead. Like a vampire.”

“What D-bear said,” Kirsch says eagerly.

Danny rolls her eyes. “I told you not to call me that. And stop calling girls ‘hotties.’ It's demeaning.”

“Sorry. I didn't know I was being _the meaning_ ,” he says sadly.

Danny shakes her head. “No, that's not what I—never mind.”

 

Laura furrows her eyebrows together and looks over at Carmilla, who shares her expression. “You want… to turn Carm into a vampire?”

Danny and Kirsch nod.

“Is that even possible?” Laura asks.

J.P. raises his hand, as if waiting for a teacher to call on him. When everyone looks at him expectantly, he lowers it and looks slightly embarrassed. “I, uhm, believe this is my area of expertise…” He clears his throat. “I am a vampire.”

 

Perry lets out a scoff. “This is getting ridiculous. No. _Nope_.”

“Per…” LaF frets.

Perry stands up and begins pacing nervously. “First, we find out there's a ghost here that’s responsible for dozens of girls missing or dying, including Betty. And she's been terrorizing Laura.”

Laura bunches up her face. “I wouldn't go so far as to say _terrorizing_ …” Carmilla gives her a grateful look.

“And then Danny's college roommate is a ghost hunter? And a witch shows up and almost kills Laura! And now we're saying Kirsch’s friend Will is a vampire?!” Her voice grows more shrill as she starts hyperventilating. “What's next? I may have dabbled in Wicca back in college, but I'm starting to think LaFontaine and I are the only normal people left on Earth! Can't you all just do that? Just… BE NORMAL?” Perry storms off and slams the front door on her way out.

Laura flinches a bit and Carmilla frowns.

 

“Did I… come out as a vampire incorrectly?” J.P. asks softly.

Laura shakes her head. “No, J.P… It's just… a lot to take in.”

“I apologize, I haven’t done this in a long time,” he says, looking ready to curl up into a ball.

LaF stands up. “Maybe I’ll do something normal with her then, yeah? Laura, do you have anything—”

“My bedroom could use some vacuuming,” Laura offers immediately. “She knows where the machine is.”

Danny gives Laura a bewildered look.

“A lot of times while we were researching she would get upset about the missing girls—the families they left behind, the lives they had ahead of them, that sorta stuff. So to calm herself down she would clean the house while LaF and I researched,” Laura explains.

“Who ya gonna call?” LaF asks flatly, heading out to find Perry. “Ghost dusters!” they pun.

Laura looks over at J.P. “So, you're a vampire?”

 

He nods eagerly. “Yes. I haven't been one for too long, I'm afraid, but that just means I remember the process pretty well. It's fairly simple and to be honest, your friend is actually a step closer to being one than a human.”

“How so?” Carmilla asks.

J.P. looks at Carmilla and she seems shocked. “Ah, yes, I apologize. I should've mentioned earlier that I can also see and hear her.”

“Wow, the group of people who can see me is starting to rival the group of people who can't,” Carmilla comments.

He gives her a small smile before continuing. “Right, well. In order to turn someone into a vampire, there is a spell performed to remove the person’s essence—their soul, I suppose, which is transformed into a form that can handle immortality. It is then made corporeal.”

He lets this sink in for a bit before addressing a concern.

“I've heard that if the process is done incorrectly, and the soul is not prepared for immortality, the vampire comes back as mad. So if we want this done right, we should get an experienced witch that can be trusted.”

 

Laura nods. “So, Mattie!”

“You trust Mattie?” Carmilla asks, shocked.

Danny asks the same question, eyes wide. “She just tried to pull a Darth Vader and choke you to death in this spot the other day!”

“But this isn't about me,” Laura replies. “She went after me coz she thought Carmilla was in danger. So if we want to do this to save Carm, then isn't that the kind of person we want doing the spell?”

 

Everyone stares at her, trying to make sense of the twisted logic she's using, but she only makes eye contact with Carmilla.

“What?” Laura asks with a nervous laugh, trying to place the look on her face. _She's looking at me like I hung the stars in the sky for her…_

Carmilla shakes her head and clears her throat. “Nothing.”

 

Danny shrugs. “Okay, okay, Hollis with the logic. Fine. So the plan is, we get this homicidal witch Mattie to do the spell. Turn Carmilla into a vampire. Get her ass out of this house and away from Mother. No more girls get taken here. Yeah?”

Everyone nods.

“I was thinking we go after the god Mattie mentioned, Lophiiformes,” Laura begins, grinning sheepishly when both Danny and Carmilla glare at her. “But Carm has since pointed out to me that that would be very silly.”

 

“I must say, you have taken to my identity as one of the undead rather well,” J.P. says to Laura.

Laura giggles. “I guess after you find out you've been living with a ghost, then have to save the ghost from a misinformed ghost hunter, and are then attacked by the ghost’s overprotective witch sister, meeting a vampire isn't too much of a game changer.”

J.P. frowns. “You're not afraid that I'll attack you or your friends?”

Laura seems confused at the notion. “Nah, you seem like a nice enough guy.”

“But I'm a vampire?” J.P. points out.

Laura shrugs. “And I'm a human. Humans do bad things, too. Doesn't mean all humans are bad. And Carmilla seems good for a ghost, which means not all ghosts are bad, either. So why should all vampires be bad?”

Carmilla lets out a soft chuckle. “I’m not sure if you're too naïve or not naïve enough, cupcake.” Laura grins at her.

 

“So, uh, how do we find Mattie?” she asks Carmilla, who shrugs. “What? You don't know?”

Carmilla shakes her head. “She’s always kinda just… stopped by.” Laura gives her a baffled look. “Well, it's not like I can call her up on Ghostly Plane phone and be like, ‘Uhm, gee sis, feel like swinging by the house today for some wine and chocolate? I'm sure the human living here won't mind.’”

Laura tries and fails to suppress laughter.

 

“Well, if we can't find her through Carmilla, then maybe we do it through more advanced means,” J.P. offers.

Carmilla quirks an eyebrow.

“What does that mean?” Laura asks.

“I work in IT,” J.P. explains.

“Damn straight he does!” Kirsch yells, wrapping his arms around J.P. in a bro hug. “My buddy Will had the best technological know-how out of all the bros in our frat!”

J.P. gives a small, awkward smile. “I could try searching for her if you give me all her aliases and any other helpful information.”

Laura looks over at Carmilla, who nods.

“Who knew this dimwit squad could come up with a semi-coherent plan?”

 

They sit around for a bit, listening to Kirsch and Will talk about their glory days in the Zeta Omega Mu, as well as the rivalry between the frat and Danny’s sorority. Perry and LaFontaine eventually mosey back in and LaF includes some tales of their own, involving their various, often explosive science experiments.

Soon it’s late and they all make their way home, with J.P. promising to keep Laura updated on his search for one Matska Belmonde.

 

Laura flops back on the couch next to Carmilla as she looks at her.

“You’re something, Hollis,” she drawls.

Laura raises an eyebrow and meets Carmilla’s eyes. “Huh?”

“You’ve managed to round up the most ragtag team of misfits to rally towards the goal of getting a ghost none of them can see or hear, and freeing her from some deal she voluntarily signed up for,” Carmilla points out.

Laura giggles. “Well, when you put it that way, I do sound quite impressive.”

“Pfft, just don’t let it go to your head.”

 

“Y’know, just because you signed up for it doesn’t mean you weren’t in a messed up situation,” Laura says through a yawn. “You were a scared girl faced with the impossible choice of death or not-death. Totally understandable. It’s like what they say, don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.”

“You always look for the good in people,” Carmilla says softly. “Which inspires others to do the same. But one day it might get you killed.”

Laura shrugs. “I think some people are worth the risk.”

 

Carmilla swallows hard and continues staring at Laura until Laura eventually looks away. “Hey, Carm?”

“Hmm?”

Laura huffs. “Why do you always open the curtains at night?”

Carmilla averts her gaze and actually shifts away from her.

“At first I thought you were doing it to continue messing with me. But you’ve stopped moving the furniture around. You’ve stopped leaving clumps of ectoplasm around. And you only take cookies when I offer, or you ask first. So why is the curtain thing still happening?”

Carmilla turns away from Laura and leans back against the couch, staring down at her palms.

Laura gives it a few seconds before letting out a small sigh. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to overstep.” She starts to stand up. “Goodnight Ca––”

 

“––I used to love nighttime,” Carmilla says so quietly that Laura’s not even sure she’s spoken. Carmilla slowly looks back at Laura. “I got into trouble so much when I was a child because I’d wait for everyone to go to bed and then sneak out and just sit outside. There was something about the gentle crispness of the air. The sweet breeze. And of course the stars.”

Her eyes glimmer at the memory, and suddenly Laura can see the years creeping into the other girl’s face.

“The stars were so beautiful. They can make you feel like no matter what, something out there is full of light and hope. Or they can make you feel so small, so insignificant. But they make you _feel_ something, y’know? You look up at them, and the whole universe is laid out in front of you, daring you to reach them. Giving you a goal.”

Carmilla swallows hard and Laura makes it a point to keep herself in this moment, watching Carmilla bare a part of her soul to her.

“And once I… died… It was taken away from me. I’m stuck in this house. Can’t leave. And so much has changed since then. The property, the house, the world. But the stars have remained the same. And the only way I know that something out there has stayed with me is if I open the curtains at night.”

 

Laura nods and they stay silent for a bit, letting the words make the air heavier with each passing second. She finally stands and goes to open the curtains, giving Carmilla a small smile and receiving one in return.

“There was this song lyric I heard the other day,” Laura says, tucking the curtains back so they’ll stay open. “ _Thank God I don’t look like what I’ve been through_.” She sighs. “Carm, you’ve been through a lot and I forget that sometimes. But you’re not alone anymore. It’s not just you and the stars. You’ve got me. And my friends.”

Carmilla lets out a soft chuckle. “And I still have no idea why you gave me a second chance when I’ve led so many people to their deaths for centuries. You had already made up your mind before you even saw me that you wanted to help me.”

Laura shrugs and tries to suppress a yawn. “Sometimes the things you don’t see are the things you have to believe in the most.”

Carmilla seems taken aback and at a loss for words.

 

“Goodnight, Carm.”

“Goodnight, Laura.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates and posts from the writing process are tagged as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au) on tumblr.  
> The story is also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> As always, feel free to leave a comment below or swing by my inbox on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/)!  
> Next update is Monday.  
> Thanks for reading, have a lovely weekend, and stay awesome! :D  
> 


	9. Like It's 1698

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura gets bored one night and decides to ask Carmilla some more questions. Carmilla has some questions of her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starring a moment some of you have been asking for ;D  
> Also the formatting is a little off coz I'm posting this update on mobile. Sorry!

It's been a few days since the great powwow and so far there had been no success on J.P.'s part in finding Mattie.  Carmilla's been taking turns in being visible to Laura and hiding out away from her.

_I wonder how that works.  Maybe I should ask her._

Laura lets out a yawn.  "Carm, I'm bored tonight.  Can we talk?  About something _ghosty_?"  She gives it a few moments of silence before letting out a huff and putting on Netflix and typing into the search bar:

 _Casper_.

She lets out a chuckle and selects the first option and tilts down her laptop as it plays on her television screen.

"I know you're out here coz the cookies are sitting next to me and they've been disappearing one by one," Laura says tauntingly, producing another package.  "And I've got more cookies right here.  And until you come out and talk to me, there's like two seasons of Casper so I'm just gonna go through all that and then whatever else was on the list and I have Ghostbusters on DVD, so..."

 

There's a groan next to her and Laura cracks a smile as Carmilla becomes visible.  "Ya killin' me, Hollis."

Laura giggles.  "Yeah, but you're already dead."

"Yeah, yeah, cutie," Carmilla replies, smirking.

Laura stretches and settles in on the couch, watching as Carmilla leisurely turns the page of a book.

 

"Whatcha readin'?"

"A real enthralling sequel to _The Very Hungry Caterpillar,_ " Carmilla says without looking up.

Laura rolls her eyes and wriggles closer, squinting at the cover. "Kipling."

Carmilla hums in response.

" _How_ are you reading?" Laura asks, face scrunched up.

Carmilla glances up with an amused look.  "Remember how I can teleport cookies into the ghost realm so I can touch them?  I've been doing that with books for centuries."

"Oh."  Laura looks around her.  "So over on your plane, you've got..."

"Lots of books," Carmilla confirms.  "You just can't see them unless I'm touching them."

 

Laura nods, satisfied with the explanation.  She thinks for a few seconds before firing off her next question.

"What did you do for fun when you were a teenager?"

Carmilla chuckles but doesn't reply.

"What? You can't remember what kids did for kicks back in 1698?" Laura giggles.

"Ah, it wasn't much different. We drank a lot and danced like fools. It's been a while since I thought back to those times. Past my death," Carmilla shrugs. "Waltzing was fun."

The sentence hovers in the air before Carmilla puts her book down and twists so she's facing Laura.

"My turn."

"Huh?"

"You're always asking me questions. It's my turn to ask you."

"Oh." Laura smiles and gestures for Carmilla to go ahead.

 

"Your father," Carmilla begins, noticing Laura's eyes widening. "Why did you lie to him about having an internship right now?"

Laura fidgets a bit before averting her eyes and chewing her lip nervously. Carmilla sits by patiently, but several seconds pass and she's thinking her question will go unanswered when Laura speaks quietly.

"My mom left him." She clears her throat and continues, stronger. "They worked together at a wildlife preserve. Started off wanting to save the world, y'know? But my mom wanted to help people and she felt like he was holding her back because he really, really loves animals. And she always wanted to go become a nurse or travel the world and do charity. Stuff like that. So one day she just up and left..."

Laura swallows hard and Carmilla can see her fighting back tears.

"Well, not totally. They had joint custody for a while, but then she was volunteering at a soup kitchen when she walked out someone mugged her and... Anyway it's just been me and my dad since I was twelve."

Laura lets out a soft laugh.

"For my first year in college, he sent me cans of bear spray every week coz he had so many extra ones at work. It really pissed Betty off, but one night a drunk guy cornered us in an alleyway and I pulled one out and used it on him. She didn't mind too much after that."

She sighs and leans over to grab some cookies, offering the package to Carmilla, who takes one.

"But dad never understood why my mom left. He always saw the worse in people. Said humans ruin the world and the animals are the ones that get stuck with the consequences. And when I went to college and majored in journalism, he was happy and said I could expose corruption. So I had this dream of becoming a journalist after college to make him proud. After I graduated, I did start with an internship, but it seemed too limiting. I guess I never really got it either, but then I finally understood how my mom felt," she sighs.  "I wanted to see the world and help people."

"And you can't do that as a journalist?" Carmilla asks.

Laura shakes her head. "Not the way I wanted to.  I wanted to help people who don't have a voice.  Give them one, y'know?  But when I did get an internship it's not like I could report the stories I wanted to tell.  Even the journalists who had been there longer weren't given free rein.  So after it ended I decided I wanted to take some time off and discover myself. But I was afraid my dad wouldn't get that. After what happened with my mom, it's like telling him that I feel the same way my mom felt would ruin him."

 

Carmilla takes a bite out of her cookie. "So he thinks you're at an internship."

"So he thinks I'm at an internship," Laura confirms, taking a bite out of her own cookie. She looks down at the book Carmilla put down in her lap. The book that, unless Carmilla was touching it, would be invisible to her, like so many other books Carmilla has in the ghost plane.

 

"So, when you were moving my furniture around, you were moving them into your plane first?"

Carmilla shakes her head. Laura looks at her expectantly and she sighs. "I don't know how to explain it... I think the way it was explained to me by Mother was that everything vibrates."

Laura furrows her eyebrows together in confusion.

"Anything with mass vibrates. Like, it has its own natural vibration. I think." Carmilla shrugs. "You might need to ask your ginger scientist friend to elaborate on that."

"Oh."

"Apparently things on your plane vibrate at a certain frequency and things on my plane vibrate at another frequency. Supernatural beings like witches can vibrate at both frequencies with ease-- which is why Mattie can hug me. That's also why some people can talk to ghosts through, like, static or whatever. And the pointer on ouija boards vibrate at a frequency closer to my plane than regular objects."

Laura hums in reply.

"Anyway, she told me that usually 'proper haunting protocol' dictates that if you're just moving objects around you just have to focus on what frequency you're vibrating at and that's that. If you're trying to make things disappear, then you just bring them out of the human plane and into the ghost plane."

Laura swallows hard. "S-So if we wanted to touch... To, say, dance a little waltz... It'd be possible?"

Carmilla smirks. "As lovely as it sounds, it's easier said than done. The only reason I was about to touch you to move you when you were knocked out was because you were unconscious. When you're awake, it's a lot harder for me to focus on your vibration frequency so I'm pretty sure it's not even possible for me to touch you right now."

 

Laura pouts. "Well, you also thought it was impossible for me to see you. And you thought it was impossible for me to find help for you. And—"

"—Alright, alright," Carmilla interrupts. "I'm just saying, you'd have to meet me halfway. And unless you've got some sixth sense for me..."

Laura holds up a hand to stop Carmilla. "Just call me Haley Joel Osment."

Carmilla rolls her eyes. "I much prefer 'cupcake' or 'cutie'..."

Laura ignores her and thrusts her hand out, but it goes right through Carmilla's arm. She repeats this motion a few more times as Carmilla watches her, amused.

"Are you even _trying_ , Carm? Gotta meet me halfway, remember!"

She tries a few more times, sticking her tongue out as Carmilla fakes a scowl.

"Hon, just give it u—"

 

Both jump as Laura's hand comes in contact with Carmilla.

"HA HA!" Laura shoots up off the couch and does a dorky dance. Carmilla looks down at her arm in shock, the edges of her lips slowly curling upwards into a smile. "WE DID IT!"

"Yeah... We did..."

Laura holds out her hand. "Well, stop gawking at your arm and let's go, Karnstein! Time's a-wastin'!"

 

Carmilla's smile turns into a grin and she stands up and tries to touch Laura's hand. It takes a few attempts, but after some more focusing their hands are clasped and Laura has one hand on Carmilla's shoulder, while Carmilla's a hand resting on Laura's waist.

Laura put on some waltzing music video she found on YouTube.

"You know," Carmilla says lowly, trying to catch her breath at making contact with someone other than Mattie for the first time in centuries. "Waltzing had a bit of a scandal back in 1698."

Laura snickers. "How can waltzing be scandalous?"

"Well, partners are face to face." Carmilla looks into Laura's eyes and notices a fire in them that she should've expected but wasn't prepared for. "Chest to chest." She gently pulls Laura in closer and notices her heart is beating harder than she expected and wasn't prepared for. "All of that, uhm... whirling."

She gives Laura a bit of a twirl and in that moment of the girl spinning away from her, Carmilla could swear she had never seen anything more beautiful. Time slows down and Carmilla wishes it would just freeze altogether.

She loses focus and their bodies fall out of phase. Laura loses her grip on Carmilla and stumbles a bit before giggling and regaining her footing.

 

Carmilla catches herself with a face-splitting grin and clears her throat as Laura lets out a yawn.

"Hmm... Getting late, cutie."

Laura nods and tries and fails to suppress another yawn. "I guess I should go to bed."

"Yeah."

Laura turns and starts to head upstairs, making sure the curtains are still open for Carmilla.

"Hey, Carm?"

Carmilla has returned to her book but peers over it. "Yeah?"

Laura gives her a warm smile. "Thanks for answering my questions and keeping me company tonight."

Carmilla returns the smile. "Anytime, cupcake."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laura's backstory continues in the next chapter (if it seemed abrupt to any of you) :)  
> Also hope the explanation for how Carmilla can touch certain things was clear enough lol if it wasn't lemme know!  
> Updates and stuff from the writing process are tagged on tumblr as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au).  
> The story is also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> As always, feel free to leave a comment here or hit me up on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/)!  
> Next update is Wednesday :D  
> Thanks for reading and stay awesome! <3


	10. I'll Keep the Sadness Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura has a tough night and Carmilla tries her best to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise there's a reason for all of Laura's tragic backstory LOL I'm not just making you all suffer needlessly *scout's honor*

Carmilla turns a page in her book. It's been a couple hours since Laura went to sleep and between the quiet and the open curtains, it's a wonderfully peaceful night.

_So why can't I focus on the damn book?_

Her hands still tingle from where she held Laura, and her chest still feels the warmth of them pressed together. Laura had left YouTube playing waltz music on, but Carmilla couldn't be bothered to turn it off. Not yet, anyway.

There's a soft sound, so faint Carmilla's not even sure she heard it at first, but it quickly grows louder and she jumps to her feet. _Laura._

She quickly makes her way to the bedroom and peers through the door, cracked open. Laura is starting to thrash in her bed, letting out pained groans of discomfort.

 

Carmilla slowly enters the room. _What is this? Has Mother found some way to reach her in her sleep?_

“Hey. Hey, wake up,” she tries softly.

“N-No,” Laura moans, whimpers escaping with urgency. “Don't… Hurt…”

 _Hurt_? Carmilla steps closer. She could try reaching out for Laura, but the chances are that they'll be anywhere near the same vibration is too slim. “It's just a dream, please wake up,” she begs.

“Please… Let me—let me go,” Laura says, a sob breaking through.

Carmilla can't take it anymore. Against all odds, she reaches out and—

“Laura! Wake up! Laura!” Carmilla's hand makes contact with Laura's shoulder and she grabs it, gently shaking her.

 

Laura's eyes snap open and she looks around widely, tears flowing down her face. She slowly focuses on Carmilla’s face. “C-Carm?” She looks at Carmilla's hand on her shoulder and Carmilla quickly withdraws it.

“It… It was just a dream?” Carmilla tries gently.

Laura sniffles and nods slowly. “Yeah. Just a dream,” she repeats, her voice raspy.

Carmilla chews her lip, eyes scanning to assess Laura's state. “Do… you need to talk about it?”

Laura wipes her cheeks and sniffles again. “Not really.” She lets out a shaky breath. “But when I was a kid, my therapist always told me if I have one of these dreams, I shouldn't bottle it in.”

Carmilla scoffs and gives her a playful smirk. “I'm having trouble believing you'd bottle anything in.”

Laura lets out a watery laugh. “True. And it's fine, that was when I was a kid. I think I'm fine now.”

Carmilla shrugs. “If you need to talk about it… I'm not going anywhere.”

 

Laura gives her a half smile and shimmies over on the bed before patting a spot for Carmilla to sit, which she does. She takes a deep breath. “Remember how before I said my mom got killed in a mugging?”

Carmilla nods.

“Well, she didn't die right away, so my dad and I got the call at home. We rushed to the hospital and actually got there right after the ambulance. But we weren't allowed to go to her and I tried to push past the doctors and nurses, but they wouldn't let me get to her. And then she died in the operating room.”

Carmilla reaches out a hand and lets it hover before putting it over Laura's. It doesn't phase through, and Carmilla gives Laura's hand a squeeze. Laura gives her a squeeze back.

 

“Anyway, for weeks after, I had these horrible nightmares. And it got so bad I wasn't sleeping at all, or I would fall off the bed and hurt myself. My dad was in mourning, too, so he didn't know what to do and he sent me to a therapist. Turned out my dreams were a manifestation of guilt I didn't know I was feeling.”

Carmilla raises an eyebrow. “Guilt?”

Laura nods. “The night we drove to the hospital, my dad was driving crazy. He wasn't really paying attention to what was on the road, he was just trying to get there as fast as he could. But he was running a red light and didn't see this kid crossing the street. I screamed at him to make him stop the car.” Laura's voice cracks. “I-If I didn't, maybe those few extra seconds where he pulled over and yelled at me for distracting him, maybe… I could've gotten to say goodbye to her.”

 

Carmilla shakes her head immediately. “Laura, if you didn't say anything, for all you know, your dad could've hit that kid, and that would've been worse.”

“Yeah, that's what the therapist said. And I get it, I do. But the thought is still there, in the back of my mind, y’know? I just didn't realize it was still there until we spoke about it tonight.”

Carmilla frowns. “I shouldn't have asked you about it.”

“No! No,” Laura insists immediately. “It was only fair after I've been asking you questions nonstop for weeks.” She sighs. “Although maybe it's a sign we should both stop recounting traumatizing backstories for a while.”

Carmilla chuckles. “Sounds fair to me, buttercup.”

 

Laura nods and slinks back down so her head is on the pillow.

Carmilla stands up and starts to walk out of the room.

“Wait!”

Carmilla's eyes widen at the urgency and whirls around. “What?”

Laura swallows hard and looks more shy than Carmilla has ever seen her. “Don't… Uh, don't go? Please?” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Can you please stay here with me tonight?”

Carmilla looks at the girl before her, small and scared. Suddenly she can see a younger Laura at the hospital, convincing herself that she shouldn't have told her father to stop the car so she could've said goodbye to her mother. And the weeks after, where the events played in little Laura Hollis’s head over and over, a recurring nightmare that left her unable to rest.

“Of course, sweetheart,” Carmilla says. She takes a few steps closer before sitting on the floor.

 

“Carm,” Laura giggles, and it fills the room, taking over every space of sadness that had been there just moments ago. “What are you doing?”

“I'm staying?”

Laura sits up and shakes her head. “On the floor?”

Carmilla shrugs. “Ghost constitution trumps butt pain.”

“They should make that a bumper sticker,” Laura jokes, making them both chuckle. “But if you're staying in here tonight, I don't want you sitting on the floor.”

Carmilla huffs and stands up. “Where do you want me then, Hollis?”

Laura repeats her motion of patting the bed. “Maybe lie here?”

 

Carmilla furrows her eyebrows together. “You sure about that?”

Laura nods before her eyes widen. “Unless that would be a pain for you? To, like, focus on not phasing through the bed and stuff? It's just, I see you lying on the couch so much, so I thought maybe furniture is okay like how you were talking about if it's small and stationary then the vibrations—”

“—Whoa, whoa, hold on there, shortcake. Don't need to pass out from lack of oxygen or anything.” Carmilla takes a couple steps towards the bed and offers Laura a warm smile. “Lying on furniture is child’s play.”

She makes a running leap and phases right through the bed, disappearing.

Laura sits bolt upright. “Carm?” She crawls to the side of the bed and peers over it. Carm?”

 

“Right here,” a voice from the other side of the bed drawls.

Laura jumps and turns around.

“Fun trick, huh? Used to crack up Mattie all the time with it.”

Laura rolls her eyes and lies back down, turning on her side to face Carmilla. “Who knew you could be so silly. So much for broody.”

Carmilla chuckles as she lies down and mirrors Laura's position so they're face to face.

 

Laura giggles. “Y’know, I wasn't even sure you knew my actual name before you woke me up tonight .”

Carmilla mocks shock. “You mean, your real name _isn't_ Cupcake Cutie?”

“No, but I'm starting to think there will come a day when that's all I'll answer to.”

“I think I look forward to that day,” Carmilla says. “Which is kinda weird.”

Laura bunches up her face in confusion. “What's weird?”

Carmilla shrugs. “Looking forward to a day. It's been a long time since I thought of a future. Or of someone being in my future.”

Laura grins. “Well I'm glad to be in your future. Coz you're definitely in mine.”

Carmilla doesn't know how to reply to that, so she doesn't. All she knows is that it's given her a warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach.

 

“What else do you see?”

“Hmm?”

Laura shifts a bit. “What else do you see in your future?”

“This house,” Carmilla states.

“We're getting you out of here, remember?” Laura reaches out and gives Carmilla's shoulder a playful shove.

Carmilla smirks. “Well, if it works—”

“— _When_ it works,” Laura corrects.

“ _When_ it works… I don't know. I guess I'd like to explore the world. All of it. I want to...”

Carmilla’s words get caught in her throat and she clears it.

“I want to see waterfalls and walk through meadows. I want to sit on a beach from sunset til sunrise. I want to feel a summer breeze or the crisp autumn air. I want to play in the snow. I want to walk through a museum and I…”

Her voice trails off and she realizes she's no longer facing Laura. Instead, she's looking at the ceiling. She sighs and clamps her eyes shut.

“I want to do it all with you.”

She takes a chance and opens her eyes, glancing over at Laura, who's smiling at her.

“I would like that,” Laura says softly.

 

Carmilla smiles and lets the words linger in the air for a few minutes. Laura's breathing starts to even out and Carmilla thinks she's fallen asleep, but when she turns to face her again, Laura's still looking at her, although her eyes are drooping closed.

“Hey, Laura?”

“Hmm?” Laura hums tiredly.

“You know that pillow you gave me? The yellow one?”

Laura nods.

Carmilla’s been struggling to find the words so she hopes by talking she'll figure it out. “It has this weird… aura. It's something I know I felt when I was alive, but I haven't felt it since and…”

Laura looks at her expectantly, no longer fighting to stay awake.

“It's like it's warm and pure and white and safe..”

 

Laura's tongue sticks out as she thinks hard. “I'm not sure what it would be. But if it's any help, the pillow was from my mom. The yellow pillowcase, too. I stopped sleeping on it after she died because it made me sad to think of her. But when I went to college, I couldn't leave it behind. So I've kinda just been carrying it around like a security blanket ever since.”

Carmilla frowns. “You gave me a pillow your mom gave you?”

Laura shrugs. “You said you wanted something that made you feel like this was your house to live in, too. Like you had a place here. The pillow always makes me feel like that, so I figured it could help you feel like that, too. And I guess it did.”

Carmilla stares at her for a while before realizing no words could fit the feelings she has. So she simply whispers, “Thank you.”

 

Laura smiles at her, trying to suppress a yawn. “No problem. Sorry I couldn't help you with what to call the feeling you get from the aura, though.”

Carmilla sighs. “It's weird. It's like the feeling I get when I'm around you.”

There's a shift in the air as she holds out her hand and the yellow pillow appears in it. She gestures for Laura to lift her head up while Carmilla swaps out her current pillow. Laura beams at Carmilla.

“Have it, at least just for tonight. I'll keep the sadness away,” Carmilla whispers.

Laura yawns again and snuggles against the pillow, her grin widening. “I think I figured out the feeling,” she murmurs sleepily.

“What is it?”

Laura’s eyelids close. “It's home.”

 

Carmilla smiles as she hears Laura drift off to sleep. _Yes, that's it._

_Laura makes me feel like I'm home._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly reminder that you guys are amazing <3  
> Updates and posts from the writing process are tagged as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au) on tumblr.  
> The story is also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> As always, feel free to leave a comment below or swing by my inbox on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/)!  
> Next update is Friday.  
> Thanks for reading and stay awesome! :D  
> 


	11. That's The Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang is left waiting after the plan stalls. Carmilla addresses the things Laura has told her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say I appreciate every single one of you who are reading this, and a special thank you to everyone leaving comments <3 y'all are such great peeps!

“Hey, cutie. Psst. Cupcake.”

Laura groans and rolls over, hearing a chuckle as the voice transfers from one side of the bed to her bedside.

“Laura.”

She groans and cracks one eye open, glaring at Carmilla through it.

“What?” Laura grumbles sleepily.

“Yikes, we might be spending too much time together, shortcake. My grumpiness is starting to rub off on you.” Laura lets out a huff, which elicits another chuckle from Carmilla. “Anyway, your phone’s been ringing, sugar. Caller ID says it’s Gumby.”

 

Laura rolls her eyes at Carmilla’s new label for Danny and grabs her phone off the nightstand.

 _Six missed calls_. She dials her back and it picks up after a couple rings.

“Hey, Hollis. Where ya been?”

Laura runs a hand through her hair. “Sorry. Had problems falling asleep last night.” She rolls her shoulders and cracks her neck. “Anyway, what's up?”

 

“Ah, well, Will— J.P. hasn't had any luck finding Mattie so far,” Danny says, as Carmilla makes gagging noises on the side. “But that wasn't why I called. I was talking to Mel and she feels pretty horrible about almost banishing Casper the Snarky Ghost to Hell.” Carmilla pretends to hang herself, sticking out her tongue. “And I was talking about how we were hoping to use a witch named Mattie to turn her into a vampire so she wouldn’t be stuck haunting the house as per her agreement, and we couldn't find Mattie. But guess what?”

“What?” Laura asks, amused while watching Carmilla continue to sit there mocking Danny.

“Mel says she knows Mattie!”

Laura's eyes widen. “ _What_?”

“Well, not _know her-_ know her. But her ghost-hunting grandma knows her. So Mel is working on finding Mattie ASAP.”

“That's great news, Danny! Thanks!” Laura squeals. She hangs up the call and beams at Carmilla. “We’ll have you back in the land of the visible and corporeal in no time!”

  

* * *

 

 

“Okay, viewers, so it's been a few days. Carmilla went back to being grumpy because she's impatient and… Well, she sorta went invisible on me while sulking last night. Can't really blame her. I'm getting restless, too. But the plan remains the same—wait for Mel or Will to find Mattie, turn Carmilla into a vampire, and get the heck out of this house.”

Laura nods and stops the recording, leaning back to stretch. She turns on some _America’s Top 40_ -type music on Spotify and bops her head along.

It's always a slippery slope and she falls down it immediately, as the bopping turns into some nice cheesy upper-body 70s dance moves. Within a couple songs, she's shamelessly belting out some Taylor Swift and popping-and-locking as if her life depended on it.

 

“I don't know, shortcake, _are_ we out of the woods, yet?”

Laura lets out a yelp and trips on her own feet, stumbling before catching herself and glaring at the now-visible Carmilla, who lets out a snort.

“Smooth, sundance.”

Laura rolls her eyes. “You suck.”

Carmilla chuckles.

“How long were you watching?” Laura asks, pouting.

Carmilla exaggerates looking pensive. “Some line about moving furniture and dancing.”

Laura lets out a sigh of relief. “So not for, like, the whole song.”

“Assuming you want to take my word for it,” Carmilla teases with a smirk.

“Stupid ghost,” Laura grumbles as she sits down on the couch next to Carmilla.

Carmilla mocks offense, making Laura giggle.

 

“Hey,” Laura says simply once they've subsided.

“Hey,” Carmilla returns.

Laura nudges her with her shoulder. “Thanks for staying with me the other night, by the way.”

Carmilla shrugs with a small smile. “It's the least I could do for everything you've done for me.”

“I haven't done anything for you, yet,” Laura replies.

Carmilla furrows her eyebrows together, studying Laura's face. “My God, you really think that, don't you?” Laura shrugs and Carmilla sighs. “Laura, you—“

 

Laura's phone rings and Carmilla lets out a groan. She picks it up.

“Hey, LaF. What's up?”

“Hey, L. Have you seen Perry? Is she, like, cleaning your bedroom again, or something?”

Laura frowns. “No.”

LaF hums on the other end and there's a few seconds of silence before they speak again. “If you do see Per, can you tell her I'm looking for her? She's been acting weird. Or, uhm, weirder than usual?” There's a heavy sigh. “Ever since she freaked out at your house when J.P. ‘came out’ as a vampire and she stormed out of your house…”

Laura's frown grows. “I'm sorry, LaF. But if I see her I'll definitely talk to her, okay?”

“Thanks, Laur. Tell your little _Sixth Sense_ roommate I say hi.”

 

Carmilla rolls her eyes as Laura hangs up. “Golly, I love your friends,” she says dryly.

“Be nice,” Laura scolds through a chuckle.

Carmilla smiles as Laura snuggles up next to her on the couch. She puts on the TV and aimlessly starts channel surfing.

“A girl living here in the late 90s had this show on that was pretty cool,” Carmilla says. “Had this tiny blonde girl kicking butt. Had a name like… Bunny… Fluffy…”

Laura lets out a loud, excited gasp. “ _Buffy_?”

Carmilla nods and Laura squeals.

“Are you Team Bangel or Team Spuffy?” Laura asks, putting the remote down and turning to look at Carmill with a glint in her eyes.

“Neither,” Carmilla smirks. Laura raises an eyebrow. “Team Fuffy.”

Laura throws her hands up and cheers. “ _Right_? Why pick between Angel and Spike, when you can have Faith with Buffy?”

Carmilla chuckles and Laura beams at her.

“I loved having Buffy around while growing up. She had this sort of dark and sad, but empowering message about her.”

Carmilla cocks her head to the side, intrigued.

 

“Well, you know how Buffy is always surrounded by her friends? Willow, Xander, Giles… but when it always came down to the toughest moments, Buffy had to do things herself. She faced the Master alone–– twice, she took down Angelus and then ran away, she saved the world from Glory before anyone else could stop her. It’s like, her friends could be there for her and get her to where she needed, but in the end, she had to be the one to step forward. Her alone.” Laura shrugs. “It was comforting to see someone young be able to face the world that way.”

 

There's a pause as Carmilla digests everything Laura's said. She swallows hard and sighs. “Can I just say something? About your dad?”

Laura nods slowly.

“I know your mom leaving him and dying probably made him withdraw from you quite a bit. And I get being afraid about voicing to him that what you want is not what he wants. But, Laura, if losing your mother hurt him that much, then he’d be stupid to lose you, too.”

Laura looks down at her palms, cradled in her lap. “But what if…” She takes a deep breath. “What if he’s disappointed in me?”

Carmilla scoffs lightly and tucks a loose strand of hair behind Laura’s ear. “Hon, I can already say in the short amount of time that I’ve known you… I might not always like the choices you make… but I think it would be infinitely more tragic if anyone stopped you from trying. And I’m sure your dad feels the same way.”

Laura nods, tears forming. “Thanks, Carm.”

“Anytime, cutie.”

 

The doorbell rings and they both jump. Laura wipes her eyes and goes to answer it. She opens it and perks up. “Oh! Hi, Perry.”

Carmilla frowns and walks behind Laura. There's a weird look on Perry’s face that she can't quite place, but she feels uneasy.

“Cupcake, something feels off,” Carmilla says.

She sees Laura’s shoulders tighten. _She must sense it, too_.

Perry’s eyes shift away from Laura and for a moment it seems like they flicker to Carmilla.

Laura notices but doesn't address it. Perry looks back at Laura and a forced smile creeps into her face. “May I come in?”

Laura swallows hard. “Uhh…” She looks over at Carmilla, who shakes her head.

“Great!” Perry exclaims, brushing past Laura.

“Great going, Hollis,” Carmilla grumbles as they all walk into the living room.

 

Laura settles down on the couch as Perry wanders around as if she's seeing the room for the first time.

“So, uh, LaF has been looking for you,” Laura says.

Perry wanders to the window, peering through the curtains. “Has she, now?”

Laura frowns. “Yes, _they_ have.”

She and Carmilla share a look and Laura clears her throat.

“Maybe you should go back to them now?”

 

“And leave you and Carmilla alone?” Perry asks, turning and regarding Laura with a wicked smile on her face.

“Th-that’s the spirit,” Laura puns weakly. “Get it? ‘That's the spirit as in, the idiom, and uhm… As in, there’s Carmilla…”

Perry’s smile widens as Laura's voice trails off. “Oh, darling, how ever did you convince my glittering girl to run away with you?”

Laura furrows her eyebrows in confusion. Carmilla's eyes widen as she realizes it a second before Laura does.

 

“Mother.”

Perry looks away from Laura and over to Carmilla. “Hello, Carmilla. So, about that update on this Laura Hollis situation…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I'm not 100% sure yet, but the last couple chapters may not follow the usual update schedule, coz they're a bit of a doozy. I'll let you all know what I decide! :P  
> Inspiration from [this post](http://setheverman.tumblr.com/post/136619673763/jaclcfrost-thats-the-spirit-i-say-as-i) and [this post](http://thethoughtrepository.tumblr.com/post/137416610897/ghost-aus) ( _“I forget theres a cute ghost who died like fifty years ago in my house, so when i dance alone in my room you can imagine the sheer humiliation i get when they pop up right behind me asking what the fuck im doing”_ ).  
> Updates and stuff from the writing process are tagged on tumblr as [#ghost au](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/tagged/ghost-au).  
> The story is also up on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/story/78467550-a-ghost-of-a-chance).  
> As always, feel free to leave a comment here or hit me up on [tumblr](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/)!  
> Next update is Monday :D  
> Thanks for reading and stay awesome! <3


	12. Love Will Have Its Sacrifices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura and Carmilla face off against the Dean, with some unexpected help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

Laura backs away slowly. “Oh. Okay… Cool.” Her voice cracks and she takes two small steps towards the doorway. “So I'm just gonna…”

Not-Perry raises her hand in the same choking motion that Mattie had done, and Laura starts gasping, unable to run as her hands grasp at her throat, trying to free herself from the hold.

“Let her go, Mother!” Carmilla yells.

“Silence, child!” Not-Perry hisses. “You wouldn't deliver her to me so I had to come for my sacrifice myself!”

Tears well up in Carmilla's eyes. “She's not a _sacrifice_! I love her!”

Carmilla looks over at Laura, who makes eye contact before the Dean tightens her grip.

“Love is weakness,” the Dean spits out, venom dripping from every word. “And love will have its sacrifices.”

 

Carmilla steels herself and swallows hard. “Not if I have something to say about it.” She lobs whatever objects she sees lying around the room at the Dean and it isn't until a lamp flies across the room and strikes her in the face that she finally lets Laura go.

Laura lands on her knees with a grunt and Carmilla quickly manages to grab her by the arm and drag her up the stairs and into her bedroom. They manage to barricade the door with the dresser and even the bed before Laura collapses to the ground in a coughing fit.

“Don't die on me, cupcake,” Carmilla says, a tremor in her voice betraying the dry tone she was aiming for.

“Don't tell me what to do,” Laura says between coughs. “I'll die when I want to.”

 

Carmilla rolls her eyes, but her lips twitch upwards in an amused smile. “Guess it's a good thing you've been getting my ghostly strength abilities a workout before this. You recovered from taking a lamp to the head _way_ faster than she is. I could probably even fling you across the room.”

Laura giggles. “Sounds like a fun way to kill the time. When we’re not, y’know, being chased by your Mother.” She sighs. “How is this even possible? How is she in Perry’s body?”

“Mother can't enter houses without a vessel, and they’re usually sensitive to the supernatural,” Carmilla explains.

Laura frowns. “Perry had that Wiccan phase in college… and LaF said Perry's been acting weird since she stormed out of the house the other day. You don't think…”

“That that's when she took over her body? Pretty sure it was.”

Laura huffs. “I'm feeling way too weak to be digesting possession right now.”

Carmilla frowns and tucks a strand of hair behind Laura's ear, pleasantly surprised they're both constantly in sync now. “That hold she had you in might've felt like choking, but she was actually draining the life force from you. It's the same reason you felt so tired after Mattie did it to you.”

“Wow,” Laura sighs. “Your mom plays dirty.”

 

There's been some rustling on the other side of the door during the conversation, but there are no other sounds or indication that the Dean is trying to get in.

“What do you think she's doing out there?” Laura sighs.

Carmilla shrugs. “Where's your cell phone?”

Laura pats her empty pockets and pouts. “I think it's downstairs. Should I go back down there and get it?”

Carmilla narrows her eyes at her before pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing. “Cupcake. Cutie. Sweetheart. Sun of my life, moon of my sky, star of my heavens…”

Laura grins at her sheepishly. “Is that a ‘No’?”

“ _No_ , you suicidal poptart! Do you have a death wish?”

 

Suddenly, there's a loud crackle of energy that shoots through the air. The door slams open, knocking the barricade aside with ease as it flies off its hinges. Laura crawls away from the mess, scrambling to her feet. Before she can figure out her next move, the Dean saunters down the hall, and with a flick of her hand, Laura soars across the room and her side slams into the wall.

Laura groans as she gets the wind knocked out of her.

“You insignificant speck of dust,” the Dean hisses.

Carmilla rushes to Laura's side and shakes her urgently. “Get up! _Get up_! We gotta get you outta here!”

“Carm, do you remember what we were talking about earlier to pass the time?” Laura blinks slowly before springing up. “Like that second season ep of _Buffy_? Where she killed the Judge?”

Carmilla furrows her eyebrows together. “In the mall? With the—”

Laura gives her a pointed look and a nod.

“You're insane, cupcake.”

 

Laura readies herself as, similar to Buffy firing a rocket launcher at the demonic Judge, Carmilla picks Laura up with ease and flings her across the room at the Dean.

Laura smacks into her with a thud and quickly pushes herself to her feet, rushing past her and out the bedroom door. She bolts back down the stairs and tries the front door.

“Poopsicles! It's like, magically locked,” Laura groans as Carmilla appears next to her. Laura spins and runs into the kitchen, throwing open a door and fleeing down the stairs.

Carmilla follows her, rolling her eyes. “You forgot this. Again.” She hands Laura her cell phone.

Laura tries swiping a few times before sighing exasperatedly. “Phone is dead.”

 

Carmilla frowns and waits a few seconds before speaking. She scans Laura's face, slowly choosing her words. “Laura, she's out for blood. You know that, right? It's… Kill or be killed.”

Laura stares at Carmilla, eyes wide. “No. No. She's in _Perry's_ body. I can't kill Perry.”

Carmilla puts her hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine.”

 

The front door opens above them and a familiar voice rings through the house. “Hello, Carm? Or the Annoying Brat? I hear I have a spell to perform for my little monster.”

Carmilla and Laura share a startled look before Laura runs back upstairs.

“Mattie! Mattie!” Laura grabs her and tries to drag her back outside through the open door, but a barrier stops them.

“Oh, this is quite an inconvenience,” Mattie sighs. “Is the Dean here?”

Laura nods. “Carm and I ran into my room and she left us alone for a bit but then she burst in and we managed to get to the basement and she's been quiet but—”

“No doubt charging her energy,” Mattie surmises. “She doesn't ‘get quiet.’ She bides her time, honing her strength, for one strong well-timed attack.”

 

Laura hits her head against the wall. “So what do we do?”

Mattie places one hand on her hip. “Well, one of my acquaintance’s friend’s granddaughters told me you want me to turn Carm into a vampire? I can do it. Once that happens, it should sever the link between not only Carm and the house, but since one of the Dean’s underlings needs to be tied to a piece of property for her to have power, she'd lose that edge as well.”

Laura perks up. “So, if we turn Carm into a vampire, then she loses her powers?”

“Yes. I assume she's possessed some vessel. She'd leave them, too. And then return to her own plane.”

 

“Is that my darling Mattie that I hear?” Perry's voice booms through the house. “Be a dear and snatch up that meddling human twerp for me.”

Laura swallows hard and Mattie regards her as if gauging her reaction.

“So. You turn Carm into a vampire. I'll distract the Dean.

 

Mattie raises an eyebrow. “How do you know I won't just deliver you to her myself?”

Laura shakes her head. “You want to help Carm, right? This is your best shot. You wouldn't pass that up. You're too good for that.”

“You poor misguided little bean,” Mattie sighs. Carmilla's eyes widen and Mattie rolls her eyes. “But, fine. Go be a good little worm and play bait while I do the spell. Got anywhere quiet I can work?”

Laura gives her a smile and nods. “Basement.”

“Fine. Keep her out.” Mattie brushes past Laura and heads towards the kitchen.

 

Carmilla looks over at Laura, concern in her eyes. “Are you sure you can do this?”

“Yes,” Laura replies with no uncertainty.

“Why, have you played bait for some centuries-old entity before?”

“No. But I’ve been nervous before,” Laura comments, giving a small laugh.

Carmilla swallows hard. “‘Nervous?’ Not ‘scared?’”

“ _Fear is interest paid on a debt you may not owe_ ,” Laura says. “Read that from a fortune cookie once.”

Carmilla chuckles and Laura gives her a slight grin.

Mattie pops her head out of the kitchen. “Hello? We're kinda on a clock, here. She's not gonna be honing her power up there for much longer.”

Carmilla gives Laura an awkward nod and wave before backing away from her. “Good luck, cupcake.”

 

Laura waves back before calling out, “Carmilla?”

“Yeah?”

Laura wrings her hands together. “I… I-I love you, too.”

Carmilla's smile grows and she struggles to find more words. She doesn't stammer for long before Mattie lets out an exasperated sigh behind her and tugs her out of Laura's view.

 

Barely a minute passes when Dean appears right in front of Laura, a sinister grin plastered across Perry's face. Laura jumps and the Dean lets out a loud cackle.

“Where are Carmilla and Matska, child?”

Laura gulps. “Wouldn't _you_ like to know?”

“Sass me all you want. After I finish toying around with you, Carmilla will receive her share of the punishment.”

“Not if Mattie and I have our way.”

The Dean lets out another laugh, but it rings hollow and cold, devoid of any actual emotion. “Yes, how did you manage to sway her to your side? My beloved rook?”

“Maybe she's tired of following orders from a cuckoo-bananas voice floating in the aether without a body,” Laura retorts.

A shadow falls across Perry's face. “Perhaps. But I tire of this banter. If you won't tell me where they are, then I guess I'll just have to kill you and find them myself. After all, it's not like Carmilla could have gone very far.”

 

In a flash, the Dean plunges her hand into Laura's chest. Instead of a physical pain, it just feels like a burning hot and a chilling cold at the same time, and Laura can quickly feel strength seeping out of her body.

A cruel twitch of Perry's lips appears as the Dean leans in closer to Laura, who gasps in pain with each passing second. “That small choke hold I had you in? Nothing compared to this, am I right? Well worth the wait.”

Laura groans and lets out a small whimper as she writhes in agony, powerless to escape the Dean’s grasp.

 

“Leave her alone!”

Carmilla swoops in from the kitchen, followed closely by Mattie, who swiftly waves her hand at the Dean.

Perry's hand instantly and unnaturally withdraws from Laura’s chest as she whirls to face them. “Ah. Come to watch me kill your little pet, have you?”

“No, I've come to complete my transformation,” Carmilla replies, wincing as Laura's legs give out and she collapses on the floor.

 

The Dean scoffs. “What are you going on about, sweetheart?”

“Carm,” Mattie says with a cruel smirk creeping onto her face, “time to taste blood for the first time.”

Without hesitation, Carmilla lunges forward and tackles Perry to the ground, sinking her new fangs into her throat. The Dean thrashes, but soon the movements subside and are replaced by panicked screams.

Mattie sighs and plays with her nails. “Carm. You're killing Laura's friend. Not that I care. But the Dean is gone and you asked me to make sure you don't kill her, so… Stop.”

 

Carmilla slowly pulls back, and a frightened Perry crawls away from her.

“What… What the heck…”

Mattie rolls her eyes and gently rests a hand on Perry's shoulder. “I'll explain everything that's happened to her. You, uhm, may want to check on your human, Carm.”

 

Carmilla's eyes widen and she quickly rushes to Laura's side.

“Hey,” Carmilla says softly, cradling Laura’s head in her lap.

“Hey,” Laura returns weakly. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a corporeal vampire who can leave the house.” Carmilla notices Laura's labored breathing and tries to push it out of her mind. “Thanks to you.”

Laura attempts a smile but winces. “Your mom groped me,” she says with a pout. “And now I'm really tired.”

“I know, cupcake, I know. You can rest in a bit, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she says, eyes drooping closed. “Just… Stay here with me while I rest? Please?”

Carmilla nods, fighting back tears. “Nowhere else I'd rather be.”

Laura hums. “Me… neither…”

 

Carmilla's heightened vampire senses pick up Laura no longer breathing and she curses her new abilities. “Laura?”

She lets out a sob as her voice cracks.

“Laura?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >>


	13. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla deals with the repercussions following the battle with her mother as she looks to her future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! ((If you're reading these as I post make sure you didn't accidentally skip the previous one :P))

Laura groans and sits up, her head pounding. _What happened?_

She tries to think back to the last thing she remembers.

_Mattie and Carm asked me to play bait for them._

_The Dean sucked the life out of me._

_Carm turned into a vampire._

_She was holding me…_

 

And then—nothing.

 _Wait, no. Not nothing. Something, a bunch of somethings._ Small, random bursts of memories that don't make any sense.

She cracks her eyes open but everything is blinding and there's just a lot of _yellow_ , so she closes them again.

 

“Holy crap, she's awake,” a voice next to her exclaims. It's much too loud for her pounding head and Laura groans again.

“Welcome back to the world of the living. Or not-living as the case may have it.”

Laura finally blinks her eyes open again slowly. First, she manages to focus on the source of the first voice—Carmilla. And next to her is Mattie.

“Huh?” Laura's own voice sounds foreign to her. She's lying on her side and her head rests in her yellow pillow.

Carmilla averts her gaze, but her hand wraps around Laura's and gives it a gentle squeeze.

 

“Well, since Carm seems to have lost her ability to talk,” Mattie sighs, “you died. The Dean sucked way too much energy out of you and your body just gave up on living.”

Laura furrows her eyebrows together. “But… I'm still here?”

“Astute observation. Nice to see death hasn't affected your impeccable detective skills,” Mattie remarks dryly, earning a glare from Carmilla. “Anyway, Carm here asked me to do the same spell on you. It required the extra step of separating your soul out from your body before placing it into the ghostly plane, but voila. You're a vampire.”

 

Laura sits bolt upright, making both Carmilla and Mattie jump. “I'm a _what_?”

Carmilla swallows hard, but decides she owes it to Laura to finally speak. “I asked Mattie to turn you into a vampire,” she says softly.

Laura's mouth opens and closes several times without any words coming out. She shakes her head and stammers. “H-How could you take that choice from me?”

Mattie scoffs. “As if. I was the one who wanted to rush it, but Carmilla said not to. She made me ask you in the ghostly plane if this is what you want. And you said yes. It was probably just such a trauma in such a short amount of time that you don't remember the conversation.” She gestures at Laura's entire body. “I bet you don't even remember feeding to complete the transformation.”

 

Laura's eyes widen and her throat turns dry. “I fed? On someone?” She clears her throat. “Did I…”

Carmilla shakes her head. “While Mattie was doing the spell and talking to you in the ghostly plane, I ran over to Big Red’s house. She was totally willing and came. You fed just enough to finish turning into a vampire. She's fine and went home to sleep it off. Perry’s also fine–– well, as fine as she can be–– and LaF is taking care of her.”

Laura closes her eyes, trying to digest the entire situation. “I really said it was okay?”

“In no uncertain terms, darling,” Mattie answers. “You said that you had just figured out your purpose and that you couldn't imagine not spending at least one lifetime with Carmilla traveling the world, seeing the places she wanted to visit, while you helped out people in need.”

 

Laura nods, not disputing it any further. The conversations with Carmilla about Laura being more like her mother than she thought, about not letting anything hold her back–– the thought had been in her mind for days now, she just hadn't realized it.

“There was more, but it's all too saccharine and if I had to repeat it I would probably want to wash my mouth out with ectoplasm,” Mattie states disdainfully.

Laura giggles and the sound brings a smile to Carmilla's face. “That's fine. Thank you so much, Mattie.”

 

Laura gives Carmilla's hand a squeeze back and the three sit in a comfortable silence for a bit.

Finally, Laura bites her lip. “Look, not to be all doom and gloom, but… even though we freed Carmilla from the Dean, that doesn't mean she'll stop sacrificing more people for Lophiiformes.”

Mattie laughs heartily. “Oh, darling. Do you really think I would have chanced going against her if I thought there was a chance that it would come back and bite me in my fashionable ass?” She shakes her head.

 

Laura bunches up her face in confusion. “Then…”

“The Dean’s game has lasted for centuries. But you know what _doesn't_ last for centuries? Houses. They collapse, they burn down. They get foreclosed and rebuilt.” Mattie gestures at Carmilla. “ _She_ was the last remaining minion for the Dean. Carm was her sole source of income, so to speak. Why do you think she got so desperate she showed up here and tried to get the life force from you herself? Hell, she barely had enough strength left to come after you at all. That last strike was a last-ditch attempt. And now that the well is dry, she has almost no power left, and definitely not enough to force an agreement with any more recently deceased people.”

Laura stares at Mattie, realization dawning on her.

“Yes, dear. She's stuck in her own plane— an isolated one, because the fool was too paranoid to share it with anyone she didn't rule over— with no way out. You, Carm, and I are all safe from her reach.” 

 

* * *

 

 

“Hold these,” Laura says, handing Carmilla a picnic basket, complete with two thermoses of hot chocolate, and two more thermoses of blood.

It’s been quite an adjustment in their new diet, but Laura found that drinking it with human beverages makes it _slightly_ less off-putting. Luckily, LaFontaine has a supply at their lab, so drinking it from the source isn’t necessary at the moment.

“ _You both have admirable restraint, though,_ ” _Mattie commented. “I wouldn’t worry your little noggin about it.”_

 

“Yes, ma’am,” Carmilla teases.

“Please,” Laura snaps, “you've got _centuries_ on me.”

“Centuries fly by in the blink of an eye, cutie,” Carmilla drawls.

Laura rolls her eyes and lays out a blanket on the grass. When she's satisfied, she gestures for Carmilla to lie down. Laura settles the thermoses down nearby and takes her spot next to Carmilla.

They both let out contented sighs and hold hands, with Carmilla intertwining their fingers.

 

A few minutes of silence pass before Laura realizes that Carmilla is frowning.

“Hey. What's the matter?” Laura asks immediately.

“You're a vampire,” Carmilla points out. “You died helping me break free of Mother.” She sighs. “You said you hadn't done anything for me. But you _had_. Even before turning me into a vampire, you had already given me the world. And now I've taken it away from you.”

 

Laura shakes her head.

“Laura, your father. How's he gonna react when he finds out you're—”

“Carm,” Laura interrupts, “he already lost my mom. And like you’ve said… I've seen enough of his pain and heartache to know he wouldn't kick me out of his life. It will definitely take some time, but… I think he’ll eventually be okay with this”

Carmilla's frown remains on her face. “But you had this whole lifetime ahead of you.”

“And now I have an infinite amount of lifetimes ahead of me.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Carmilla asks, her voice small and vulnerable.

Laura shifts and Carmilla turns back to look at Laura, trying to process her thoughts. “Of course.” She shrugs. “I’m not saying we won’t fight or whatever. But we have forever ahead of us. Just you and me.” Laura gives Carmilla a wink. “Well, just you, me, and your plethora of books Mattie brought over from the ghostly plane. You really weren’t kidding about that, huh?”

Carmilla chuckles. “I never kid.”

 

Laura scoffs. “What about earlier when you walked _right into_ our front door because you forgot you were corporeal now?”

Carmilla frowns. “I meant to do that.”

“Mmhmm,” Laura hums, unconvinced.

“I was testing how sturdy it was,” Carmilla asserts seriously.

“Yeah, I was also surprised that it was thicker than your head,” Laura snorts and Carmilla cracks a smile. _This feels natural._

 

“Maybe we'll see a shooting star in the night sky,” Laura breathes out.

“Shooting stars are overrated,” Carmilla says gently.

Laura pouts. “Why do you say that? People wish on them all the time.”

Carmilla turns her head to look at Laura's profile. “You shouldn't wish on shooting stars. You should wish on the ones that have the courage to shine right where they are.”

Laura turns to meet Carmilla's gaze. She lets out a soft chuckle. “Why do you always look at me like that?”

Carmilla smirks. “Like what?”

Laura swallows hard and glances at Carmilla's lips. “Like I’m your everything.”

Carmilla shrugs, her smirk disappearing. “You saw me when no one else could see me.”

 

Laura doesn't really know what to say to that. Instead, she decides to reply with something she'd been dying to do for a while. _Pun intended_.

She leans forward and captures Carmilla's lips, and Carmilla immediately responds by deepening the kiss. They stay this way for a while, exchanging small pecks and longer kisses, until Carmilla finally rolls away from Laura and stares up into the night sky with a smile in her face.

No, _this_ feels natural. And this feels like something that could go on for forever.

 

Laura snuggles up closer against Carmilla’s side, leaning her head on Carmilla’s chest. “Carm, I don't want you to feel guilty about me becoming a vampire. You should be happy right now. You're finally free.”

“No,” Carmilla says, burying a kiss in Laura's hair. “I'm finally home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, shoutout to [JuniperP1](http://archiveofourown.org/users/JuniperP1/pseuds/JuniperP1) for suggesting [Carmilla walks into things upon becoming corporeal again](http://archiveofourown.org/comments/70793347), as well as for [Carmilla to have her books brought to her after leaving the ghostly plane](http://archiveofourown.org/comments/71047720).  
> Originally, I was gonna drag this out and post this last chapter on Wednesday, but I figured  
> 1) That is _so_ cruel and you guys deserve better than that  
>  2) This fic was being posted to give you guys a Hollstein fix during the hiatus, and since filming started, that's not necessary anymore  
> 3) It's a great cure for Monday blues :P  
> Anyway, it's been an absolute blast posting this fic and interacting with you all. It made the five months I spent rewriting this fic over and over to get it right so, so worth it. You're all absolutely amazing.  
> Feel free to [keep in touch](http://romeo-oh-nomeo.tumblr.com/) and, as always, stay awesome!  
> Thank you for reading <3


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